Undertale - The Final Choice
by NagandEmerald
Summary: RESETING after another True Pacifist run through the Underground, Frisk puts themselves into a situation they found too difficult to finish. After meeting with Sans, Frisk decides to RESET one more time and regain their happy ending. But they find themselves unable to continue; instead, they stay behind to SPARE the Monsters they called friends the burden of knowing them.
1. Prologue

**Undertale: The Final Choice  
** **Prologue**

* * *

The air within the Hall of Judgement sat still, lazily even. The dust in the air just sat there, doing nothing as I stood at the far end, looking down to its entrance. As I waited for the monster of different timelines to walk in, I had begun to just take it all in. It felt good to just take it all in for once: to not feel like a judge for a while. Yet…I couldn't relax…I couldn't afford to stop caring anymore…not after Papyrus. I then placed a hand into my pocket and pulled out the tattered remains of his scarf, left behind by that…thing. They were responsible for it, and my nightmares…I couldn't relax and let them go by and kill Asgore. My thoughts, however, were brought back up, and I quickly put the tattered scarf back within my pocket. Looking down the corridor, I could see them, the same perpetually blank, emotionless expression from when they arrived. However, it was clear that there was something very wrong with them…very…very wrong. Their clothes and hands were caked in grey. In one hand, they carried a knife, fingers gripping tightly around its handle. The other was clenched around something that I couldn't see. I waited as they walked ever closer, their footsteps getting louder until they stopped, standing a pool's-length in front of me.

"heya...you've been busy, huh?" I watched the kid's expression turn from emotionless to curl into a small smile, barely noticeable from where I was standing. "so, i've got a question for ya. do you think even the worst person can change? that everyone can be a good person, if they just try?" Immediately after asking this, they stepped forwards, almost like they were tempting me. Putting my hand up, I had to chuckle, the smile plastered on my skull widening a little.

"all right. well, here's a better question." The lights in my eye sockets dimmed as I asked the next question to the kid. "do you wanna have a bad time? cause if you take another step forward...you are REALLY not going to like what happens next." The room stayed silent for a few seconds before they walked forwards again. Their DETERMINATION was absolute. They wouldn't hesitate…I had to fight.

"whelp. sorry old lady. this is why i never make promises..." My mind went back to all of the other monsters that this THING had taken from me. Friends, family, and acquaintances were all gone, just because I decided not to stop them on their murderous streak in the first place and hand their SOUL to Asgore on a silver platter. The room's lighting faded to near pitch blackness, the only colors being seen being the black and white of the kid and the red their SOUL. I had also lost my color, or what little there was to begin with.

"it's a beautiful day outside," I admired, taking in the sounds of the Hall of Judgement for one final time, "birds are singing, flowers are blooming. on days like this, kids like you..." The room had gone eerily silent, and opening my eye sockets, one could see that the dim lights of my pupils were gone once more. I wasn't about to show MERCY just yet…they had to remember what they had done. "should be burning in hell!" Before the kid could react accordingly, I raised my hand and slammed it back down, my left pupil glowing a bright blue as I did. The kid's SOUL followed suite, and they were slammed back to the ground before they could attempt anything. Raising my hand up, a bed of bones rose from the ground. The kid barely jumped out of the way in time, and I set up the next portion: a sidewinding corridor of bones as they began to run at me. Hitting several of the bones along the way, I watched their SOUL waver, and their DETERMINATION falter as they were undoubtedly feeling their sins crawling on their back. After moving in close, I pulled up a wall of bones around the kid. My eye flashing blue and yellow, I watched as the familiar skeletal faces of the gaster blasters manifested around the walls. Around the edges, towards the center, back around the edges, and finally, straight through the middle. As the wall of bones came crashing down, I saw bruises and bags under the kid's eyes.

"huh," I said, pulling my hands out of my pockets and shrugging. "i always wondered why people never use their strongest attack first." The kid merely looked up, their smile now gone, replaced with the same neutral expression they once possessed. Running at me, they began swinging the knife. With each swing, I easily moved out of the way, winking when I teleported out of the way when they made their fifth swing.

"what? you think i'm just gonna stand there and take it?" Before they could attack again, I would put their DETERMINATION to the test, and I did. Pillars upon pillars of bones rose from the ground, and they ran and jumped through the hoops I had set up.

"our reports showed a massive anomaly in the timespace continuum. timelines jumping left and right, stopping and starting..." The kid took another swing, and I effortlessly moved out of the way. At this point, they could definitely feel their sins crawling on their back; I could see it: the karmic retribution that was slowly eating away at their SOUL, showing them the countless lives they had shattered down here.

"until suddenly, everything ends..." Another set of bone-constructed pillars, another set of hoops to jump through, this time with even less success. Taking another swing, their face began to grow more and more irritated as the perpetual smile on my face grew. Chuckling, I closed my eyes and sighed, waiting for them to swing at me again. Another swing, I teleported out of the way, leaving the kid to fume as I appeared behind them, my pupils once again missing their glow as I stared as angrily as a perpetually grinning face could.

"that's your fault, isn't it?" As they swung to try and hit me, they found me behind an approaching obstacle course of platforms and more bones. The kid's eyes widened as they jumped from platform to platform, the last one nearly catching him. However, as they were about to jump down, they were hit, full force, by a surprise pillar that I had sent their way. Getting up, I could clearly see the kid's karmic retribution was kicking in. He now possessed a black eye, and the shattered, dusty echoes of those they had killed were now encircling them, weakening their SOUL by reminding them of their misdeeds. Chuckling, he tried to throw the dagger at me this time. I simply moved out of the way and set up another, harder obstacle course of bone pillars towards them. Narrowly avoiding this one, I sent a surprise of 2 more bone pillars to keep them caged in their karmic retributions. Jumping down from the platform, they MARROW-ly avoided the pair of bone pillars, looking at me with renewed DETERMINATION. Stepping back a little, I waited for them to attack me again. Instead, they took out a glamburger and ate it. Looking at their SOUL, I saw the cracks that were forming reform, strengthening their DETERMINATION yet again. Sighing again, I looked down with closed eye sockets, feeling despondent about not yet breaking through to them.

"you can't understand how this feels," I said, summoning a new set of platforms, this time with bones acting as barricades. This time, the kid actually made it through without their retribution. "— knowing that one day, without any warning...it's all going to be reset." The kid gripped the knife even tighter, then ran and tried to swing down. Grabbing the kid's arm, I took my other hand from my pocket and shrugged, opening my eye sockets again as I did.

"look. i gave up trying to go back a long time ago." Teleporting away from the kid again, this time I set up a set of three platforms, one moving away from me. My eye glowed and the smile I had grew as gaster blasters manifested around them, forcing the kid to move from platform to platform. Watching the kid get closer began to worry me, but one of the blasters got a lucky shot on the kid. Instead of grazing them, the kid was hit full force by the skeletal face's beam of magic, and I heard a brief scream before the light faded. Where they once stood, their soul now stood, the knife and a heart-shaped locket where they once held them. I watched, not with happiness, but with relief as their SOUL cracked and shattered into small pieces, the knife and locket falling to the ground from where they were once held. However, I knew it wasn't over. They'd be back, and more than willing to try and finish the job.

* * *

As I stared into the black, colorless void, I couldn't help but look back on what had happened. Sans was clearly going to be tough to beat, but I didn't expect some rhetoric on my choice. My curiosity had enticed me to try genocide.

"It wouldn't hurt to try," I thought back then. "I can reset the timeline if it gets too much." But I didn't…I didn't reset the timeline, and I didn't stop the genocide. Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton, Napstablook, Toriel, everyone I had gotten to know and understand were now gone…Sans was next, and afterwards, Asgore and the flower. But, did I really want to do this? Did I really want to satiate my own curiosity this way: through murder? To control time was a serious thing, but to do it over and over again to entertain myself…it was exactly what Flowey had done many times before.

"No. I have to see this to the end. I have to finish what I started. I am DETERMINED," I thought to myself as I pressed the CONTINUE option. In a flash of yellow light, I was brought back to the Hall of Judgement, Sans still standing where he was before. His silence, the birds singing, the flowers blooming…it was all perfect for a picnic…and filled me with DETERMINATION. I walked in front of the smiling skeleton, my expression neutral.

"heya. you look frustrated about something...guess i'm pretty good at my job, huh?" The room darkened once more, my SOUL flickering to life in front of me. The sound of perfect weather for a picnic stopped.

"it's a beautiful day outside...birds are singing, flowers are blooming. on days like this, kids like you —" This time, he didn't even bother telling me I was doomed for damnation. He just went straight to the point with the same attack from before: manipulating my soul and pushing me to the ground. Jumping up, I avoided the bed of bones that sprang up. Moving his hand, I was forced through another tunnel of bones. Then, the skulls. Hearing them charge up, I moved out of the way as they fired their lasers. At the corners in a hollow square, at the center in an "x," back again at the corners, and straight through the middle of the cage of bones. As it lowered, Sans spoke again.

"anyways, as i was saying, it's a nice day out. why not relax and take a load off?" He winked at the end of his statement, waiting for me to make my move. Going in for the kill, I started swinging wildly as he backed away, every so often winking and shrugging at me as he usually did; it was beginning to annoy me at how casually he looked dodging the blade. He then teleported out of the way as soon as he was cornered. Turning around, I saw him standing at the opposite end of the room.

"like i was saying kiddo, look. i gave up trying to go back a long time ago." This time, I was ready to dodge the attacks that Sans had set up this time. However, while I was DETERMINED, I was beginning to feel my sins crawl up my back once more. The platforms appeared once more, and the laser skulls appeared to try and hinder my progress. This time, I made it out with a few burns. Panting, I reaffirmed my DETERMINATION and set off to stab him. Moving out of the way of the knife, I fell down and watched the knife slide away.

"and getting to the surface doesn't really appeal anymore either," he said, shrugging as he did. Grabbing the knife, I prepared for whatever else the skeleton had in store. This time, just some simple bones approached. It was nothing needlessly horrendous like the previous attacks, but what threw me off on the first one was it being turquoise in color. Not having enough time to react, I immediately felt the karmic retribution hit me with equal force as the bone. Visions of past friends visited me as I jumped through the rest of Sans' hoops afterwards.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, DARLING?!" I heard a familiar voice ask. However, turning to the karmic vision, I saw, instead of Mettaton, a ghost with his hair. He was similar in appearance to Nabstablook, and he was alongside other ghosts, one of which was the aforementioned spirit. Flickering in and out of his robotic body, Mettaton clearly had seen better days.

"YOU TOOK AWAY MY FAME AND MY FANS!" the vision screamed at me, "WHAT FRIEND WOULD DO SUCH A THING TO ME, METTATON?!" While I felt bad for taking the happy ending away, I knew that it was just a vision of my sins, and I had to push through it. Sans was chuckling, clearly amused by my karmic retribution. Looking to him, I saw him shrug and wink.  
"what's wrong kiddo? you look like you just kissed a ghost." Hearing Sans' poor excuse for a jab at my sense of humor annoyed me, and I swung at him again. Like before, I had missed, but he couldn't dodge forever. I would keep attacking, no matter how heavily my SOUL weighed on me.  
"anyways, even if we do...we'll just end up right back here, without any memory of it, right?" This time, a platform rose right up from under me, and Sans looked up as I was thrust in front of a moving wall of bones. Jumping through his hoops, I ended up being hit heavily by the karmic retribution, feeling my sins weigh on my neck and my SOUL began to crack as it did. This time, a vision of Alphys visited me, stuttering as she always did.

"Y-you gave m-me hope, a-and made me feel worthwhile! W-w-why would y-you take that from me F-Frisk?!" Feeling immense nausea, I stumbled for a second before looking to Sans. The skeleton's eye was glowing briefly as I looked, but his pupils returned to normal as soon as I focused on him. Running up to him, I swung again, but he moved out of the way, as usual. It was expected now, but I was beginning to tire him out.

"to be blunt...it makes it kinda hard to give it my all." Wait…so Sans WASN'T giving it his all?! While that worried me considerably for what he had in store, it also renewed my DETERMINATION. Another corridor of bones with platforms came up behind me, similar to his previous attacks. Weaving in and out of the attacks, I slipped on the last platform into the pit of bones below. Yelping in shock and in pain, I felt the karmic retribution immediately, and my SOUL cracked even further. Looking around, I saw another vision, this time of Undyne, who sent me sprawling across the floor with a melted hand. Looking at the vision, I saw Undyne melting as she looked at me with righteous fury. I had never been more terrified of something like this before.

"DAMN IT!" she screamed at me, pointing a melting finger towards me, "You took away everyone's hopes and dreams! Was our happiness not enough for you?! Were the friends you made not enough?! I hope you get what you deserve punk!" As she faded, I realized that I was beginning to feel something. While the LOVE and EXP I had gained did ease the pain a little, her words cut deep like a knife through butter. I stood back up, looking to Sans, hoping to finish this. As I took out the Legendary Hero, I saw Sans chuckling.

"you know, kid, undyne wasn't that far off. did fish-ing for the truth help bring you back, even a little?" Hearing Sans chuckle at the easy pun made me even more DETERMINED to finish the job. Looking at him, I decided not to eat the hero and just keep trying to hit him. I ran at the skeleton, screaming as I swung the knife at him over and over again. None of the blows made contact with him, and he kept backing up, smiling, winking, and shrugging within each swing. I wanted to make him shut up at that point, but as he teleported out of view, I looked up just in time to see a bone moving down towards me. I moved out of the way, only to run straight into a wall of bones. Immediately, I felt my SOUL break and shatter apart, my body falling to the ground. I watched as the Void encased me again, and this time, I didn't feel that DETERMINED to get back up.

"Don't give up," I told myself, sighing as I looked at the CONTINUE and RESET buttons, "I need to stay DETERMINED, and break that comedian's spirit!"

* * *

It was clear the kid wouldn't give up. As I woke up from the nightmare of the previous battle, I looked down the corridor to see the kid appearing from their DETERMINATION. Watching them walk down the corridor, my smile grew a little, and my eye flashed for a second to gain their attention.

"hmm. that expression," I pondered aloud to them. The expression, while unresponsive as always, clearly hid back DETERMINATION unbound. "that's the expression of someone who's died twice in a row. suffice to say, you look really...unsatisfied." Shutting my eye sockets, I shrugged a little before continuing on. "all right. how 'bout we make it a third?" The room darkened once more, and I watched as the kid prepared for the beautiful day spiel. Maybe I would surprise them this time.

"it's a beautiful day outside." Instead of continuing, I instead just got straight to the point and started the attack. The same bone-bed, the same tunnel, and the gaster blasters. However, I was surprised to see that they'd avoided it all, now smiling in a smug little way. "ready?"

"Do you remember your brother?" Before they had even attacked, Frisk had decided to bring up something that he shouldn't have.

"sorry, what'd you say kiddo?"

"I said, do you remember your DEAD brother?" The lights in my eye sockets dimmed to nothingness, and I gripped Papyrus' scarf in my coat pocket. The kid smiled at me and chuckled a little. "Oh come on Sans. Show a little 'spine!'" I wasn't going to be antagonized by this little twerp right now.

"how about you come and finish the job, you dirty brother killer!" I growled. The kid then ran at me with the knife, now in hand, and started slashing at me. This time, before I could teleport, he turned me around, and started the other direction. I was already starting to sweat a little before I teleported out of the way after the 20th, maybe 30th swing.

"like i was saying kid, it makes it kind of hard to give it my all when i know that we'll be right back here without any memory of it...or is that just a poor excuse for being lazy?" I said, shrugging as I set up another set of bone pillars for the kid to jump through. "hell if i know..." As the bones moved towards him, one towards them on the ground and one from behind and above, the kid started a dangerous game of jump rope, ending up clipping many of the bones and earning some karmic retribution in return. He looked around at the visions that would swim before them. Kids, grown–ups, guards, normal people, and all in between. It was kind of amusing to watch Frisk get their just rewards, but it was also pretty hard to watch.

"look kid," I said, closing my sockets for a moment as the kid turned their attention to me, "all i know is…seeing what comes next...i can't afford not to care anymore." The kid looked with a tilted head before running at me with the knife. Moving out the way, it was clear I was tiring now. I had to make more of an effort to keep Frisk from going any further, and I did just that.

"guess you like doing things the hard way, huh?" Teleporting out of the way of their next swing, the room went dark for a moment, before the kid was about to collide with two walls of bones. The kid, jumping up, saw the room go black again, with my eye flashing quickly to show this. The next were just pillars of bones. While the kid got through them with ease, the next was a long wall of bones heading straight for him. Jumping up, they tried to remain in the air as long as they could. Nearly hitting the bone-covered ground, my eye flashed again, and they were standing on the floor in front of me. Going in for a stab, I pushed the kid away from me and summoned a multitude of gaster blasters to deal with them.

"sounds strange, but before all this i was secretly hoping we could be friends. i always thought the anomaly was doing this cause they were unhappy, and when they got what they wanted, they would stop all this." The kid went in for another strike, and this time, cut my coat. My expression turned to surprise very quickly before returning to the plastered smile that it always possessed.

"maybe all they needed was...i dunno. some good food, some bad laughs, some nice friends." Watching Frisk run back towards me, my eye flashed again, and they were on top of a platform with one below it. Two pillars of bones were rushing towards them, but they couldn't move out of the way fast enough, and their SOUL was hit with the full force of the pillars. My eye flashed again, and this time, a wall of bones from above and below moved towards him. Playing a dangerous game of jump rope and succeeding again, my eye flashed once more, and this time, they were flying through a tunnel of bones. However, instead of finding their way through it, they were hit full force with multiple bones, their SOUL weakened to the point where a good slap was all it would take.

"but that's ridiculous, right? yeah, you're the type of person who won't EVER be happy," I stated. The kid then tried to run at me with the knife in their hand. Instead of anything complicated, I just grabbed Frisk's arm that was holding the knife and slapped them across the face. Instead of dying quietly though, the kid let out an ear-piercing scream as their SOUL cracked open and shattered. They'd be back, with more DETERMINATION to spare.

* * *

That last attack was just insulting now. A slap across the face?! Sans was lazy, but those last few attacks had made me more tired than what Sans looked like. I rubbed my face as I thought on how tough the skeleton actually was to beat. But, I wouldn't quit. I was DETERMINED, and this would be the last time my SOUL would shatter by Sans' hand. Pressing the CONTINUE button, I saw the blinding yellow light of my DETERMINATION bringing me back to the Hall of Judgement. Looking down the hall, Sans was now wearing Papyrus' scarf around his neckbones. His sockets were devoid of light, and he patiently awaited me. Walking to him, I saw him chuckle a little, eyes still devoid of light.

"hmm. that expression...that's the expression of someone who's died thrice in a row." Sans' pupils returned, and he put a finger to his chin in thought. "hey, what comes after 'thrice,' anyway?" His eyes then returned to devoid and empty, and I could practically see the grin underneath the scarf grow. "wanna help me find out?" The room then followed suite, and this time, I would be the first to attack. However, seeing Sans' eye flash quickly, and the same first attack come up told me otherwise. Avoiding the first attack was easy, and I looked at him with a tilted head and an expression that told him that he was becoming too predictable before running at him and swinging. Instead of just dodging, he teleported behind me. Swinging behind me, he teleported to the other side and pushed me away.

"here we go..." His eye then flashed again, and I saw the two walls coming in to collide with me. Jumping up, I just barely clipped the bottom portion of the walls before his eye flashed again. I could feel my sins crawling along my back as I found myself on a platform with one below it. The two bone pillars came towards me, and I jumped down before grabbing the other platform and pulling myself up. The other pillar hit me full-force, however, and I fell down as soon as his eye flashed again. This time, two pairs of the skull lasers looked at me from the sides of a squared bone cage. Moving to the far end of the side, the lasers nearly blinded me before Sans' flashing eye dismissed it all. My sins were now up to my neck, and I saw a vision of the kid who idolized Undyne.

"Yo…why're you doing this? Why didn't Undyne kick your butt? Was she scared of you? Are you just that bad? Jeez…" The kid's face of shock returned, the same one that he had given to me before I had nearly killed him. I felt my SOUL twinge as the karmic image ceased to exist. Sans didn't say a word this time, more intent on showing me my sins than making jests and japes.

"you'll keep consuming timelines over and over," Sans observed. "until...well...hey. take it from me, kid. someday...you gotta learn when to QUIT." Instead of a basic attack, Sans' hand moved quickly to the right, and my SOUL, turning blue in color, immediately followed. Landing on the side of the room, a floor of bones erupted outwards. Jumping a little late, I felt like spikes had been driven into my feet, and my hands began to feel tingly with the sensation of karma. Moving his hand upwards, I then flew upwards to meet the same fate again. He would do this in a variety of directions, the multitude of which I jumped out of the way. Landing back on the ground, however, Sans surprised me with one of his laser skulls right above me. My DETERMINATION faltered and I watched as my spirit left my body as my SOUL shattered. Returning to the Void, I slammed down the CONTINUE option and returned, my expression now showing to be quite frustrated, and frankly, tired of Sans' shit. Walking up to him, he chuckled.

"hmm...that expression. that's the expression of someone who's died quice in a row." Sans' expression then shifted to confusion, then thoughtfulness at what he just said. "quice? fice? whelp, won't have to use it again anyways." The room darkened yet again, and Sans' "strongest" attack began. Afterwards, however, I got straight to the point and went in for a multitude of slashes. As time passed, I grew angrier with each death. Every time my SOUL shattered, my DETERMINATION would both falter and grow. And every time before I died, I'd see another vision of my sins. The last one to be seen was Flowey, who gave me the spiel on how I was no different than him. However, before the apathetic creature could tell me more, I was killed yet again by another of Sans' skull lasers. Every time I'd come back, he'd once again remind me on how many times I had died.

"hmm. that expression...that's the expression of someone who's died five times in a row. convenient, huh? that's one for each finger. but soon..."

"hmm. that expression...that's the expression of someone who's died six times in a row. that's the number of fingers on a mutant hand. but soon..."

"hmm. that expression...that's the expression of someone who's died seven times in a row. hey, that's good. seven's supposed to be a lucky number. who knows? maybe you'll hit the jackpot."

"hmm. that expression...that's the expression of someone who's died seven times in a row. nope, wait, that's definitely nine, sorry. or was it ten?"

"hmm. that expression...that's the expression of someone who's died ten times in a row. hey, congrats! the big one-oh! let's invite all your friends over for a big shindig. we can have pie, and hot dogs, and...hmmm...wait. something's not right. you don't have any friends." Eventually, it had come to a point where I was just trying to beat Sans because I was tired of it all. I wasn't even jesting or japing at him. Instead, it was just trying to stop the endless loop of death and rebirth. However, this time, the 12th time I had come through the loop, Sans was without the scarf, but had his hood over his head. Before I even walked towards him, he put up his hand.  
"hey kid, stop...let's get to the point."

* * *

As the room darkened around us, I looked up at Frisk, their SOUL showing once again now that it was the 11th, 12th time that I had to beat his sorry ass. I felt bad for kicking the tar out of them now, and I could see that their sins had been wearing them down for much longer than any other human should've had to endure. I was considering MERCY, but I had yet to see if they'd learned.

"look, kid. i think i know you're tired. but...y'see...all this fighting is really tiring me out too." This time, he was the first to strike, and I just barely moved out of the way, only allowing him to catch my coat. "and if you keep pushing me...then i'll be forced to use my special attack." Another swipe, even closer now; they were starting to get faster. This time, I teleported out of the way, not to infuriate or confuse them, but to keep myself from being hit.

"yeah, my special attack. sound familiar? well, get ready. cause after your next move, i'm going to use it. so, if you don't want to see it, now would be a good time to just lie down and die." Another swipe, inching ever closer.

"well, here goes nothing...are you ready? survive THIS and i'll show you my special attack!" Now was the point of no return. Extending my arm outwards, I slammed Frisk around the room, watching as they jumped up from the emerging bones on the walls. However, I stopped with the manipulation of their SOUL and sent in several pillars of bones from above and below them. Each bone hit them with surprise, and I watched as their SOUL began to crack, the karmic retribution stacking on it and weighing them down even more. I then threw them to the other end of the Hall of Judgement and created a tunneling pathway of bones, sending Frisk downwards towards them. The hallway seemed to go on forever now as they desperately tried to avoid hitting the bones. As soon as they hit the other side though, I brought up another floor of bones and watched them jump, my sockets now dimmed. My eye flashed, and they were now in one corner of the room, where walls of bones jutted out. Barely escaping, my eye flashed again, and this time, they were hit full force by the next wall of bones on the opposite corner of the room. I was beginning to get sick of waiting for them to die again, and this time, I summoned a large number of gaster blasters, all in a ring and blasting them in a circle. As they ran around, trying to evade each blast, eventually, I couldn't sustain the gaster blasters anymore, nor could I sustain my own frustrations with them. My eye flashing wildly, I grabbed their SOUL and began slamming Frisk around the room over and over again, hoping that I could shatter it after their immense karmic retribution. However, the longer I did so, the more I tired, and the more I tired, the less intense the blows became. Eventually, they were just taps on the walls of the room, and I gently set Frisk down.

"listen," I said, looking on as Frisk got back up, his SOUL nearly shattered once again. "i know you didn't answer me before, but...somewhere in there, i can feel it. there's a glimmer of a good person inside of you. the memory of someone who once wanted to do the right thing. someone who, in another time, might have even been...a friend? c'mon, buddy. do you remember me? please, if you're listening... let's forget all of this, ok? just lay down your weapon, and...well, my job will be a lot easier." I watched as Frisk stared me down, their expression unmoving and their body most likely aching with pain, both emotional and physical.

* * *

As I stared down the skeleton, I began to question why I was even fighting him anymore. It had seemed so long ago that I knew why I wanted to kill him, but now I really didn't know if it was worth it anymore. Sans' words echoed through my head, and reminded me of Papyrus.

"HUMAN! IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU DO NOT WISH TO FIGHT MY BROTHER ANY LONGER." Looking behind me, I saw a karmic vision of Papyrus, who possessed my expressionless face, but held his disembodied head in his hands. However, that changed to an expression of joy as the skeleton nearly dropped his head.

"WOWIE! I KNEW THERE WAS GOOD IN YOU SOMEWHERE, EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE IN IT! BUT...YOUR CONSCIENCE ISN'T CLEARED, HUMAN...YOU STILL KILLED ME, A NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TASK, I KNOW, AND MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO BE FRIENDS, SINCE I AM DEAD...BUT…ALL I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ASK IS THAT YOU TAKE MY BROTHER'S ADVICE. I FORGIVE YOU, HUMAN! EVEN WHEN I AM DEAD, I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN BE GREAT FRIENDS, AND THAT YOU ARE NOT A BAD PERSON!" Looking at the skeleton's body turn to dust, with only his head remaining, the vision faded, and I began to realize that I couldn't finish this. I couldn't finish what I had started. Looking at the dust that caked my shirt and the knife, I began to tear up. Looking at the combat menu, I looked to the MERCY button and immediately opened it up. Sans was willing to spare me, after all that I had done! It could finally end, and I could reset afterwards! I could make a happy ending again! Monsters could go to the surface, and I wouldn't have to reset ever again!

"Sans…I'll take your spare," I said, my voice resounding with joy at the offer I was given. Sans looked up from his sleeping state, his eyes alight and his smile widening. He then pulled back his hood and looked at me with an expression that seemed more inviting and friendly than before.

"you're sparing me? finally! buddy, pal!" Dropping the knife and pulling the locket from my neck, I began walking over to my friend, sighing in relief.

"i know how hard it must be...to make that choice. to go back on everything you've worked up to. i want you to know...i won't let it go to waste. c'mere, pal." I watched as Sans opened his arms for a hug, and I started running over to give the bastard a pat on the back and return that hug. I felt that I had gotten closure on what I'd felt was a long, arduous journey, and now I could go back and fix everything that I had done wrong, and truly feel complete with a happy ending. However, just as my hands were about to embrace the skeleton, I saw his eye flash quickly, and bones jut up from the ground beneath me. I had no time to react as I was encased in a cage of bones. I immediately screamed out as I saw my karmic retribution start pulling me back down to despair over my past sins: a final death in my only genocide run.  
"You really hated us all this much, didn't you?" I heard a familiar voice say. Looking over, I saw Toriel. Reaching out to the vision instinctively, I tried to plead that I hadn't intended things to go down this way, but one look from the vision told me that she didn't care for it. I watched in despair as she turned away before I felt my SOUL crack and shatter to pieces. As I looked around the Void, I saw something that I didn't think I'd see. It was Sans, and he was staring right at me as he chuckled. I began to walk towards him, still confused on what exactly was happening.

"geeettttttt dunked on!" I heard his voice yell out into the darkness. Looking at him, I walked towards him with an irritated expression. However, he put up a hand and pointed over to the CONTINUE option.

"if we're really friends...you won't come back," he said before I watched him fade back into the timeline. Looking at the buttons, I began to think on what I should do. I was furious for being tricked into dying again, but…I also couldn't necessarily bring myself to go back to him. I didn't have the DETERMINATION for it. Looking at both the CONTINUE and RESET buttons, I just sat down and tried to think. I wasn't in any hurry either way. I had all the time in the world, and that filled me with APPREHENSION.


	2. RESET

**Undertale: The Final Choice**  
 **Chapter 1: RESET**

* * *

As the light of the Void grew, I shut my eyes, waiting to be whisked back to the start. After listening to Sans' words over and over again within my head, I knew that I couldn't go back and face him. I knew that I couldn't go back to genocide…not after what he'd said. I was a good person, I knew I was. But…I had tried so hard to let my curiosity bring me to the edge, rather than enjoy the good that I had done on many runs before. Feeling the sins I had committed crawl up my back, and looking back on all of it, I felt disappointment. I wasn't just disappointed in myself for committing such atrocities, I was ashamed and disgusted for even considering it in the first place. It wouldn't matter anymore though; I wouldn't have to worry about going back to Sans for genocide. I was ready to move forward and stop rewinding time. In a moment, the weightlessness and unfeeling emptiness of the Void disappeared, and the light died away to give way to the feeling of lying down on a bed of flowers. Opening my eyes, I sat up to look around, finding myself back at the Ruins, back at the start. As I looked around at the flowers, I put my palm to the ground and pushed myself to my feet. The familiar feeling of dizziness and soreness came to mind, remembering that I'd fallen down from the crevice above. Looking around, I walked to the familiar entrance to the Underground, the familiar archway with the rune opening like a gaping maw.

"Back into the belly of the beast," I thought to myself. Walking forwards, I saw the small patch of grass where Flowey sat, looking away to the Ruins before us. Clearing my throat, the SOUL-less creature turned around and chuckled a little, giving me that oh-so-very insincere "friendly" grin that he was known for. This was new. Before I could speak, however, the flower spoke before me.

"Really, Chara?" he asked. This was definitely new, for sure. "Well, do what you will," he said, his grin growing monstrously wide as he spoke. It then morphed to the almost jack-o-lantern state that he would show when he wanted to be creepy in any way.

"I'll be waiting for you!" Before I could ask the flower to stay and explain himself, he slipped back under the grass, laughing as he did. Groaning in frustration, I looked around to see Toriel, walking towards me. Instead of the face of disappointment or shunning me like the vision did, it was clear that she had no recollection, as per usual in a RESET; her expression was one of a calm, inviting smile, the fangs barely even visible without her opening her mouth to speak. Draped in her favorite robes, she looked down at me from up high, about a foot higher than most humans would stand, her pawed feet bare and her hands folded together.

"Hello…are you alright?" she asked, her voice sweet and full of contained happiness. "You must be so lost and confused. Ah, do not be afraid, my child; I am TORIEL, caretaker of the RUINS." Smiling at her introduction, I took to sitting on my knees as she went through her little explanation as to why she was here in the first place. I, for one, found it entertaining every time, even when…

"Come. I will guide you through the catacombs," she finished. Getting up, I followed Toriel through the entrance to the Ruins. Looking to the Ruins above, I was filled with determination to press forwards. Leaving my SAVE imprint in front of the Ruins, I followed Toriel up through the entrance to the Ruins to partake in her journey back to her home. Following her into the next room, I saw the six floor plates, arranged in a pattern of two, one, two, one.

"Welcome to your new home, innocent one," she stated kindly. Back in my first run through the Underground, I had remembered her saying that very same statement, and it confused me. Back then, I didn't realize that she wanted to have me stick around and keep her company, but now? The statement always made me realize that the Underground and the friends I had made were my true home.

"Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins." Immediately after she said this, I made a move to solve the first puzzle to open the door to the Ruins. Looking at me with a careful eye, Toriel watched as I solved the puzzle for her: the last row of two floor panels and the first row of two floor panels. After pulling the lever and opening the door, she looked at me with a look of surprise. Looking back to her, I smiled and stood back from the door as she walked up.

"How did you know how to solve the puzzle, my child?" I merely shrugged and gave her an innocent smile.

"You could say I've seen puzzles like these before." Looking to me with suspicion in her expression, it returned to normal as she patted my head.

"Such an interesting child," she said as she rubbed my head a little. "Do you like puzzles?" This was a new question that she asked. It was something that I hadn't heard before, and was something refreshing, if not completely foreign to me.

"I'm partial to a good puzzle," I stated a little proudly. Smiling, she continued on, "The Ruins are full of puzzles; one must solve them to move from room to room. I hope they are not too easy for you." She then moved into the next room, pushing the door open as she did. Following her, I saw the familiar passage, with marked levers on the wall. Looking to me with a look of apology, I quickly nodded and moved to solve the "puzzles," opening the way for us to press forwards. The next room was the one with the dummy. It just sat there, looking forwards as it did every time before.

"As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not; the process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a fight. While you are in a fight, strike a friendly conversation. Stall for a time, and I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice it on this dummy." Even now, after I had done nearly everything, I still found it odd that I was talking to this dummy. Walking up to it, I said "hello" to it. Like always, it wasn't much for conversation, but Toriel was satisfied as I turned to her.

"Ah, very good! You are very good," she congratulated, pressing forwards to continue the way back to Old Home. Following her, I rolled my eyes at how she could ever be proud of someone talking to a dummy. While before my reruns through the Underground, if I ever met someone who talked to a dummy, I would've just laughed it off and called them silly. Nowadays, I would've attempted to call the police or a mental ward…now that I had thought about it, how long had I been doing this for?

"There is another puzzle in this room. I wonder if you can solve it." Toriel brought me back from my train of thought, as I followed her back through to the puzzle ahead: a floor of spikes, which had to be navigated through in a pattern like the previous room.

"This is the puzzle, but…here, take my hand for —" Toriel was interrupted as I held her hand and pulled her forwards. She watched in surprise as I aimed to solve the puzzle quickly. Countless RESETs had already told me how to solve this particular puzzle, and I was more than ready to prove that I could take care of myself, but that I was willing to accept her guidance. Every so often, she would make a sound of disapproval when I would intentionally go the wrong direction, where I would quickly correct me by pulling; it was less out of malicious intent, and more out of just showing her that, even if I'd been through this life multiple times, I could still mess up. After moving through the maze, she looked at me with a combined look of surprise, relief, and exhaustion.

"I…I think puzzles are a little too dangerous for now, my child," she stated before walking into the next room. Following her, I knew what she was about to do, and prepared to chase her down.

"You have done excellently thus far, my child. However…I have a difficult request to ask of you." She took a deep breath, as she had done many times prior, and prepared to run. I could now see it in her eyes. "I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this." Immediately, she sprinted away, down the hallway. I knew where she would be, but instead of walking straight to the pillar, she instead fled down the hallway to the next room. This confused me greatly, but I pressed forwards, walking down to the end of the room. Looking behind the pillar, Toriel wasn't there this time, a far more curious development than I thought. What else had changed for this RESET? Turning back to the room's exit, I watched her peek out before walking back to me.

"Do not worry, my child. I did not intend to leave you alone here. This was an exercise to test your independence. Thank you for trusting me." Knowing what was coming, I prepared to start my trek across the Ruins to get to Toriel's home when she would leave.

"But, I must attend to some business," she said, right on cue as well, "and you will need to stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It is dangerous to explore by yourself." Expecting to get the cell phone from the monster, I didn't expect it when she knelt down and gave me a hug instead. Somewhat taken aback by this, I nearly squirmed out in apprehension. This wasn't something that had happened before, and it spooked me more than intrigued me. Was I messing around with the timeline too much? I couldn't really tell.

"Be good, alright?" she asked. Not wanting to deviate any further from what I knew, I only watched as she left to go back to Home. After she left, I just took a seat in front of the pillar, waiting for her to return.

* * *

"if we're really friends...you won't come back." I didn't want to open my eyes…not this time. I wanted to remain in the comfort of the Void. At least there, I didn't have to really care about anything…but if I didn't, then the entirety of time itself would be wiped out of existence. I couldn't afford to not care. I told them that. Regretting every moment of it, I slowly opened one of my eyes, the glow of the world returning. I was ready to experience the same nightmare again. However, to my surprise, instead of the gold of the floor, I saw the bland shade of white on my ceiling. Springing up, I looked around, and I saw that, instead of the Judgement Hall, I was in my room. The treadmill still running and the floor cluttered with bits of trash were a welcoming sight, and made me smile.

"that's a good sign," I thought to myself. Getting up from the bed, I turned to look at the flustering tornado of objects spinning in the corner of the room. Every time I had woken up back here, it had grown more and more intense. However, this time, I noticed that the whirlwind had stopped. The objects were just floating there: an old plate of Pap's spaghetti, several crumpled up bits of paper, a book, and the dog, all just floating there. It was as though something had stopped the flow of time…or someone.

"guess that's the bad sign then," I muttered, running over to my dresser and opening it up to get a sweater, a new pair of shorts, and a pair of socks. Not bothering to close it, I picked up my coat from the ground with my mitts and put them on before opening the door and heading downstairs. Hearing the familiar sound of Papyrus' morning routine of getting ready for the day, I fell onto the couch and closed my sockets for a quick catnap. A few minutes passed, and I heard Pap's door open. Opening one of my sockets, I looked to see Pap walking down the stairs, dressed in his battle body.

"SANS!" he yelled, clearly annoyed with something.

"'sup bro?" Papyrus was looking at me with annoyance, clearly peeved about something.

"LOOK AT YOU SANS! LOUNGING THE DAY AWAY ON THAT COUCH WHEN YOU COULD BE COOKING SOME BREAKFAST!" Grinning a little wider, I shrugged in reply.

"sorry bro. not really that hungry today. guess i can't 'stomach' the thought of food today." Papyrus stomped his foot on the ground in that cute little way he always did when I told a particularly "humerus" pun.

"SANS, THAT WAS A BAD ONE, EVEN FOR YOU!"

"you're right bro. i don't 'relish' that one at all."

"SAAAAAAAAAAAANS!" Pap groaned, more annoyed than ever, while I chuckled at the pun.

"well? what's the 'thyme?' i may need to 'ketchup' on sentry duty today." This time, Papyrus had enough, and grabbed me. Too lazy to move, I just came up with another pun as he sputtered and looked at me with those big, angry eyes of his, practically threatening to throw me out of the house for the day.

"hey pap. before you do anything rash, i know you think my jokes are cheesy, but—"

"YES, THEY ARE!" he interrupted. He knew what was up, but I could adapt.

"nah pap; they aren't that bad. don't they make you feel 'grate'?"

"OH MY GOD SANS! GET OUT!" Pap said, opening the door and dropping me into a snowbank next to the mailbox. "GET THOSE PUNS OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM, OR AT LEAST MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL LAZYBONES!"

"i'm gonna go to grillby's for breakfast. maybe he'll take a 'crack' at some 'eggcellent' puns." I immediately began laughing as Papyrus groaned and slammed the door shut, his grumbling at my sense of humor being audible at least to the kitchen. Getting up and dusting the snow off of my coat, I decided to take up my offer on some breakfast at Grillby's. Walking behind the house, I snapped my finger and opened up a shortcut right in front of the door. Walking in, I saw Doggo fighting a Greater Dog over some dog biscuits. Looking to my usual spot, it was empty as always, and Grillby was already setting up a bottle of syrup after watching me enter. Taking a seat, I grinned wider and thanked Grillbz for the bottle and began drinking it. Now that I had a moment to myself, for the most part, my mind began to drift back to what had happened back in another time. It was all like a bad dream, but it was so real. I could see glimpses of what had happened, but I couldn't get a clear picture. Seeing the kiddo in Snowdin in that time, I had gotten a clearly evil vibe from them. Whatever they were doing, they didn't have our hopes and dreams in mind that time; that time, they were out for monster blood. But…what could've driven them to do such horrible things. Tori, Pap…all innocent, all without an evil thought in their minds. Taking another swig of syrup, something else bothered me…Frisk got to me at the Hall of Judgement…they fought me more times than I could bother to keep track of…then they stopped. It was like their DETERMINATION to CONTINUE down that path was gone. Karma was a spooky thing for sure, but I don't think any real monster would've stepped down so willingly, looked so happy to drop their weapon. What was really going on?

"Sans," Grillby stated, his language foreign to most. Looking up, Grillby was looking down to me with a questionable look.

"'sup grillbz?"

"I've known you for a while Sans. You generally don't get bothered by things. What's troubling you?" Looking to my hand, I saw that I was unintentionally squeezing the bottle. Thankfully, it was half full, so no syrup on my mitt, but was it that obvious that this was now bothering me far more than it normally would?

"c'mon grillbz. me; caring about something? that's about as rich as this syrup," I said, a convincing "nothing is wrong" smile plastered on. Clearly unconvinced, he set down the glass he was cleaning and crossed his arms, the fiery limbs making a whoosh.

"You aren't fooling me Sans. I told you already that I've known you for a long time. You're not bothered by anything unless it's something serious, like Papyrus."

"guess that makes me a 'brotherer', huh?" Still unconvinced, Grillby stared me down from behind those glasses of his. Taking another swig of syrup, I looked away, my sockets darkening. "look...i really can't tell you what's botherin' me. i'm not just gonna throw you a 'bone'."

"Don't tell me that Sans. I've been around some pretty weird stuff in my time. I think I would understand a lot more than most of the monsters here." At that notion, I chuckled.

"heh...good one, but i've heard that one before."

"Not a joke Sans," he replied. Before I had a chance to take another swig, Grillbz grabbed the bottle of syrup and set it behind the bar. "Here's the deal. You tell me what's up, I get you your refill. Hmm?" Not wanting to start a commotion or really get into another fight, I sighed tiredly.

"do you really wanna know?" Grillbz nodded and uncrossed his arms. Looking to the left and right of the bar, I saw no one else was really listening. Sighing in exasperation, I gestured for Grillby to get closer. "alright. you remember a kid that came through a while ago?" Before Grillby could respond, him looking confused and all, I chuckled.

"oh boy...that's right. you and everyone else don't remember a thing. well, let's start it off like this. it all started with a little thing called DETERMINATION..."

* * *

It was so weird. After waiting for Toriel to return, it was like no monster wanted to come near me at all. I hadn't entered combat at all since the dummy. Out of the corner of my eye, I would see a froggit or a whimsun look at me from behind a wall or from what I presumed to be a safe distance away. It was very disconcerting, especially with Flowey watching from the shadows as well. This was a far different run than previous runs, for sure: Toriel hadn't given me a phone, I was able to do the puzzles on my own now rather than wait for her to help me along safely, and moreover, Flowey was far less distant in his attempts to spy on me from afar. It was creepy, almost like what would happen after I killed all the monsters in the Ruins during my Genocide Run. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, where I had taken to looking at the various menus over and over again, I saw Toriel return. Sighing in relief at the silence about to be broken, I never thought I'd be gladder to see her again.

"Greetings my child. That did not take very long, now did it? Now come along; I have a special surprise for you." Doing as she said, I got up, but seeing her reach out her hand, I apprehensively pulled it back. Looking at me rather confused, she settled for me to just follow her. Walking through the passage, I watched the other monsters practically scurry or flutter away. Looking to where the pile of crinkling leaves would normally be, I instead saw a patch of golden flowers instead. This was getting far spookier than I really cared for, but not only was this something new, it was better than the…alternative. Realizing that I hadn't SAVED in a while, and desperately felt the need to, I walked up to the small garden. Looking at the golden flowers and seeing a familiar face in them filled me with apprehension to continue, but remembering that Toriel's Home was only one room away filled me with determination to press forwards. Seeing the sparkle of my SOUL creating a SAVE point in front of the garden, I looked back to Toriel, who gestured me towards the northern passage. Following her, I saw the cute little house amidst the leaf piles, with the same old dead tree in front of it. This time though, we weren't alone. More monsters, with Flowey hiding among them of course, watched me with a morbid curiosity in their eyes. The way they all were just looking at me, rather than Toriel, was unnerving, and really made me think back to what I'd seen fighting Sans.

"I must've really screwed up doing a violence," I thought to myself, quoting Papyrus after I had loaded back in to befriend him one last time before I had to continue down the Genocide Path. Before I could dwell anymore on the past, Toriel put a hand on my shoulder, bringing me back to reality.

"For no reason in particular, which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?" Before I could answer her, she held up a hand for a second, looking up in thought before her attention returned. "Wait...do not tell me. Is it both?" Nodding apprehensively, she giggled in glee, as though she'd just won a bunch of money.

"Hee, hee, hee. I had a feeling. When humans fall down here...strangely, I...I already feel like I know them. Truthfully, when I first saw you...I felt like I had seen a ghost...but then, it felt like I was seeing an old friend for the first time. Strange, is it not?" Now I was officially creeped out. I had heard her say similar whenever I did a RESET, but now feeling like she had seen a ghost? With all of the eyes on us, I was now more creeped out than ever. I felt like something bad was going to happen if I stayed outside her house any longer. Running from the following pairs of eyes, I didn't hear Toriel's plea for me to stop before I ran into the door. The last thing I felt was a splitting pain in my head, and all I heard was a yelp from Toriel before it all went into a black, spiraling void.

It took a little while, but I started seeing color return again, meaning that I hadn't just killed myself by running straight into a wooden door. I groaned as my vision began to clear, and a splitting headache ensued. I rolled over on what felt like a soft cloud. Opening my eyes, I looked around to see I was in a dark child's bedroom: the room that Toriel normally would've offered me. Sitting up, my head pounded, and I felt it best not to turn on the light. However, all other thoughts disappeared after a familiar, sweet smell filled my nose.

"Butterscotch and cinnamon pie," I said to myself. Looking at the bedside, I saw a slice of the pie. Getting up, I picked it up and set it in my inventory for later. For now, I felt it best to press onwards. But before I did, I decided to SAVE again. Waking up in a familiar cozy bed to the smell of cinnamon and butterscotch filled me with determination to continue. Watching the SAVE point appear near the bed, I got up and opened the door quietly. I heard Toriel humming what sounded like the music box from the statue at Waterfall. Walking quietly into the living room, I saw Toriel sitting in front of the fireplace, humming to herself as she quietly reading the book "72 Uses for Snails." Clearing my throat, Toriel immediately stopped humming, set down the book, and rushed over to me.

"My child! You are awake! That was a very irresponsible and dangerous thing to do, running into that door! Are you hurt? Do you need —"

"I'm fine, I'm okay!" I interrupted. Toriel gasped at the interruption, but let me continue. "Thanks. I...I was just having a long day, that's all." Toriel looked at me with a suspicious look, but that was quickly turned into a smile after I gave her a hug.

"Well...if you say so, small one. Did you see the surprise for you in your room?" she asked. Nodding, I opened my inventory and took out the cinnamon and butterscotch pie slice that she had left out, still warm.

"Oh wonderful. Do you want to have it now?"

"Yeah. How about we both have a slice at the table?" I offered. Smiling, she walked to the kitchen to get herself a slice of pie. Making myself comfortable, I took a seat at the dining table opposite of the fireplace on the right side of the table. Toriel returned not a moment later with her slice of pie and took the seat directly opposite to the fireplace as well. She then waited for me to take the first bite. Taking the bite, I took in the taste of the pie more than I did last time. This one was cooked to perfection, as though it was just the right occasion.

"I thought we might celebrate your arrival," Toriel stated, smiling as she took a bite as well, "I want you to have a nice time living here, so I will hold off on snail pie for tonight." Nodding, I thanked her and scarfed down the treat. As I did, Toriel would continue to watch, her eyes darting around every so often to look at something that she thought she had heard.

"My child?" she asked out of the blue, "I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. I have also prepared a curriculum for your education." I nodded in acknowledgement to her dialogue, glad to know that something at least stayed the same in this weird timeline. "This may come as a surprise to you, but I have always wanted to be a teacher...actually, this probably is not very surprising to you. I feel like I already told you this." Looking at her with intrigue, I noticed the change in dialogue. This timeline seemed drastically different from any prior RESET. Was it something that I had done, or was it something that had a chance of happening at random? Whatever it was, I found it made me experience APPREHENSION far more than it did DETERMINATION, something that felt far different. It was like an exact opposite of what I normally felt. However, I felt that if I could get through this timeline...I would still get the happy ending that I wanted, that they wanted.

"Hey," I said, stopping Toriel in her one-sided conversation.

"What is it?" she asked. Taking a deep breath, I knew this was the path I had to go.

"When can I go home?" It crushed me to watch Toriel's expression go from content and happy to almost afraid and heartbroken. I felt bad every time I said it, but this time was just devastating.

"What?" she asked, "This...this IS your home now." Looking to her with as stoic a face I could pull, I watched as her happiness shattered like my SOUL had countless times. "Um...would you like to hear a joke?" I didn't have time for this.

"How can I exit the Ruins?" I asked, DETERMINED not to falter in my speech.

"Um...how about another slice of pie?" She then got up to go and get another slice of cinnamon and butterscotch pie for me. However, I shook my head before she could even look away from me. I felt like I had back in the Judgement Hall, sins crawling up my back as I was breaking her heart.

"How can I exit the Ruins?" I asked again. This time, her expression, although a nervous smile, clearly conveyed her broken heart.

"I have to do something...stay here my child." She then got up and walked out of the living room to the stairway. Instead of staying behind, I followed close behind her down the stairs and into the darkness below, looking up to see Flowey looking in from a window outside with that monstrously wide grin.

* * *

I could not let them leave. I wouldn't. Not after all the times that I had seen children go before. However, the way that they stared at me from behind, with that DETERMINATION in their eyes, they told me otherwise. They wanted to leave the Underground, like so many before...the poor fools. They would meet the same fate as the others: dead by Asgore's hands. Stopping, I heard the footsteps of the child stop as well.

"You wish to know how to return 'home,' do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins: a one-way exit to the rest of the Underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs." I said, calmly and collectively. I then began walking again, and the child followed. Their motions were as calm and collected as mine, but they held a great weight to them. Stopping again, they stopped as well, and my expression grew dim.

"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come...they leave...they die," I said solemnly, "You naïve child...If you leave the Ruins...They...Asgore...will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand?" I then pointed back to the stairs before telling them to go to their room again. I then began walking, and when I didn't hear their footsteps, I nearly sighed in relief, but as soon as I turned the corner, I heard a pair of footsteps again. Stopping, I turned my head only slightly back to the child, seeing their movements stop in conjunction with mine as well.

"Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning." Continuing down to the door at the end of the hallway, I smiled, not hearing their footsteps again, but only slightly. Standing in front of the door, I prepared to use magic to tear down the ceiling above it.

"Wait!" I heard the child yell.

"You want to leave so badly? Hmph," I huffed in indignation, "You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this."

"Prove myself," I heard the child say. I nearly jumped at how they predicted what I would say. "Prove to you that I am strong enough to survive." Looking back, I now saw the child, the DETERMINATION now bereft of them. They had looked like they had seen this before...heard it before.

"Wait...why are you looking at me like that...like you have seen a ghost...do you know something I do not?" I asked. The child remained silent, and as I thought about it, it seemed too silly to even dream of. "No...that is impossible." The room that flashed dark, and the child's SOUL was brought before me. I turned around fully and blocked the path to ensure that the child did not attempt to get past me. I knew best for them, and I would do best for them. Watching them puzzle themselves for a bit while watching me, I sighed and sent magical fire flying at them. Instead of dodging, like I had taught them, they instead weathered the storm, flinching with each fireball. I prepared for another attack, but they stopped me from doing anything.

"Please don't do this," they said. Feeling my heart ache at their plea, I couldn't let them just leave. A worse fate would befall them if they left their new home. Creating a ring of fire they just sat there and weathered the storm as the fireballs all hit them. Preparing for another attack, they spoke again.

"You know I don't want to do this." It felt like my heart was about to burst from the ache of having to hurt an innocent, but I had to test them...if they wanted to leave, they had to go through me first. I acted aloof and pushed a wall of fire to them. They weathered the storm, yet again, looking far more hurt than when they had run into the door. Before I could do another, they said it again.

"Toriel, don't..." Instead of listening, I continued to throw magical fire at them, their clothes now tattered and burnt, and beginning to develop nasty-looking bruises and welts.

"I know you want to stop." I took a deep breath, trying hard not to think on how I was hurting the child, and continued anyways.

"Toriel..."

"What are you doing?" I asked aloofly. Another attack, more bruises and burns. "Attack or run away!"

"I don't want to fight you! I choose MERCY!" the child replied. I took a deep breath and continued on. However, the child looked like they were about to collapse. Instead of allowing the fire to hit them, I moved it out of the way as they stood there. Then they began to walk towards me.

"What are you proving this way?"

"That I'm strong enough!"

"Fight me, or leave!" I pleaded to the child, creating another wall of flames. They stood still, so I moved the fire out of the way again. I couldn't kill them, it would do no good. They then began walking towards me again.

"Let's stop and talk."

"Stop it!" Another step forward, more fireballs. However, once again, I couldn't bring myself to do it. They were hurt enough, and looking at me with such a look of DETERMINATION and KINDNESS, I couldn't do it.

"Stop looking at me like that!"

"You don't need to block me..." Another wall of fire...yet again...

"Go away!" I said. This time, they said nothing and stopped directly in front of me, holding out their arms as the fireballs brushed past them. Again and again until I couldn't do it. I stopped attacking, my expression softening and my aloofness going.

"I know you want to go home, but...but please...go upstairs now." They continued to look at me, panting like a dog on a particularly hot day, their clothes tattered and ruined and with dark splotches across their face, arms, and legs. "I promise I will take good care of you here," I pleaded, hoping that they would listen.

"I know you would...but I can't."

"I know we don't have much, but we can have a good life here..."

"I need to go home," they replied, the rest of their DETERMINATION leaving their face.

"Why are you making this so difficult?" I asked, a tear forming in my eye as they just stood there in front of me. "Please, go upstairs." The child then shook their head, and my aloofness caved in. Tears began to drip from my muzzle down to the ground, and my straightforward neutral expression turning to a frown. I then chuckled a little, realizing the folly of what I was doing.

"Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child." They then just collapsed to their knees, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"No," I said, "I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them." The child then looked up, hope returning to their eyes. Their DETERMINATION earned them their freedom. Bringing down my arms, I sighed.

"It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations...my loneliness...my fear. For you, my child...I will put them aside."

* * *

As the room regained its color, I saw Toriel's face soften again with a smile, same as always. Toriel stopping the battle was just as it normally was, but I couldn't help but feel guilty of my past sins.

"If you truly wish to leave the Ruins," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I will not stop you." Staying determined, I merely watched as she dumped expositional dialogue on me. "However, when you leave...please do not come back. I hope you understand." Instead of waiting for her to kneel down to hug me, I instead ran up and wrapped my arms around her legs. Looking surprised, she knelt down and returned the embrace with a warm, motherly love to it. She stayed like that for maybe 10 seconds or so before she stood back up.

"Goodbye, my child." She then started walking back to her home, looking back one last time before she disappeared out of sight. Sighing in exasperation, I felt it was time for one last SAVE in the Ruins before I went out. The sight of the great door and the warmth of the torches around me filled me with determination to continue. The imprint was left, and the SAVE point made at the door. Reaching for it, I prepared to push it open. However, something stopped me from going forwards. Looking back down the passage, I was half-expecting Toriel to pop around the corner and watch me leave, but she didn't. Looking forwards again, I attempted to push the door open again, but to no avail. Then I remembered something.

"I've done everything this world has to offer," Flowey's words echoed, "I've read every book. I've burned every book. I've won every game. I've lost every game. I've appeased everyone. I've killed everyone. Sets of numbers...lines of dialogue...I've seen them all." Those words haunted me...Flowey had done everything. In his words, he'd seen them all...but what about this one? This timeline was so different in comparison to any other. Lines of dialogue had changed so much, certain events went much differently, and even victory against Toriel felt empty and hollow. My DETERMINATION had faltered, and now I felt more APPREHENSION to continue forwards than I did anything else. If I had really wanted to give monsterkind their happy ending, I would've left a RESET out of the question in the first place. With what I'd done, I couldn't free them without my conscience weighing down on me.

"I can't do it," I muttered to myself in defeat. Looking away from the door, I started walking away from it. But...what about Sans and the others? No; they were better off not knowing or remembering. Looking back to the door one last time, I sighed and started walking back down the corridor to the stairs. Each step got heavier and heavier the closer I got, until I got to the stairway. Looking back to the door and back to the stairs, I reminded myself that it would be better this way. Taking a deep breath, I walked up the stairs and back into the center-room of the house. Looking to my right, I saw Toriel wasn't sitting in her chair, and looking to my left, I saw the hallway leading to the three bedrooms. Walking down the hallway, I passed by what was to be "my" bedroom and all the way to the end of the hallway. Looking in the mirror, I was astonished. Despite everything that I had done, despite all the heartache and journeys I had gone through, it was still me. In the mirror, I could see the tiredness in my eyes, having gone through this more times than I could ever hope to count.

"What have I been doing with my life?" I asked myself. I had used the power to RESET my timeline in the Underground too much. I felt older in my mind, but my body told me that I was still a little kid...maybe it was time to stop. Maybe, instead of a RESET, I would continue...but not with freeing the monsters...instead, I could do it my way.

"My child?" Turning around, I saw Toriel in the living room. She wore the same smile she did prior to our battle. "What are you doing here? I said that you can go home."

"I know," I replied, walking back to the living room, "I'm not going to..."

"Well why ever not, small one? I thought that was what you wanted." My look of DETERMINATION faltered, and I sighed.

"I couldn't...I couldn't leave. I don't deserve to!" Toriel looked confused, but her confusion quickly turned to surprise as I ran up to hug her. Tears began to flood my eyes as I felt the hurt that I had probably caused over what I presumed were years of RESET after RESET.

"My child, what on Earth has gotten into you?" she asked in shock, not too sure what to do.

"Please forgive me," I said with tears drizzling down my cheeks, "I can't go forwards...I can't CONTINUE..." Toriel, at this point, was clearly not in the loop. She was the closest thing to a mother that I had in this perpetually-repeated Hell. It was so long ago that I couldn't even remember what my real mom looked like. My old family was a distant memory, and it pained me even more to know that the Underground was really the only place I could actually remember as home.

"My child, I do not think I understand."

"I've done terrible, awful things...to Sans...to Papyrus...to you...I can't CONTINUE knowing what I did!" I bawled. It was ridiculous at this point, but I felt that it was something that needed to be done.

"My child, please calm down!" Toriel replied in desperation to try and soothe my pain, confused as to what I was saying now.

"Please…please don't make me go mom," I cried, oblivious to the fact that I just called Toriel "mom" for the first time in this run. Looking at her with teary eyes, I could see that she was surprised at what I'd just said.

"Did you just call me...'mom'?" she asked, looking to me like a confused kid on the playground.

"I—I...um..." Before I could answer, however, Toriel immediately knelt down and returned the hug, smiling in comfort.

"I do not know what you have done, but I believe that you need some help, do you not?" Nodding rather quickly, I buried my face in her robes, letting all of the emotion I had bottled for so long finally leave. "Would it make you happy...to call me...'mother?'" Feeling that I had nothing really left to loose anymore, I nodded slowly, pulling myself tighter into the hug. "Well then, call me whatever you like, my child," she said softly as I just sat there and let out my heart. I was home now, and I wanted to CONTINUE with it that way.


	3. Apology

**Undertale: The Final Choice**  
 **Chapter 2: Apology**

* * *

"so there you go," I finished, taking another swig of syrup from probably my second, maybe third bottle.

"kid can travel through time 'cause of their DETERMINATION...can SAVE, LOAD, and die as much as they want...worse is that when they get bored with the ending, they can just RESET it for another spin. And last time...everyone was havin' a bad time." I took another swig to get the bad taste of the tale out of my mouth. Dripping the last drops down the hatch, I looked over to Grillby for a response; he had busied himself with washing mugs from other monsters, still listening intently. I would've thought he would've gotten bored and just said a simple "mmhmm," when called for.

"You know Sans...I don't think that I could get involved," he said.

"then you're part of the problem grillbz. there aren't any shortcuts here. heh..." Grillby merely re–positioned his glasses and set the glass he was cleaning down, leaning in towards me.

"Sans...here's my advice...if what you just told me was true, and I can't stress enough that I do believe you, go about your day as though it was normal. If this kid of yours doesn't show up...then don't worry about it. You aren't our protector. You shouldn't have to keep us safe."

"it's my job to keep papyrus safe grillbz. you know that. this kid was a monster, and the good kind, the last time they RESET, and i'm not ready to go for another ride like that."

"Sans. It's not your place...the best you can do is protect your brother and just go about business as usual. After all, this kid could've RESET in the middle of your fight with them to just go back and do things right."

"shouldn't have told you grillbz...this is what everyone i told the first few times said to me," I said. Standing up, my smile faltered a little as I started to rant. "'just go about your day sans. it's not your place sans. it's alright sans, you shouldn't have to worry about us.' i do worry grillby! about you, undyne, papyrus, alphys, everyone! everyone down here is at stake, and i've gotta make sure that...THING hasn't lost themselves to come back here and finish the job!" Now everyone was staring at me. I had made a scene, and I knew it was only a matter of time before other people started asking questions. Grillby just stared back, and while his flame was expressionless, I could see that he was shocked at my reaction to him. For the first time in a long time…Grillby had seen how much I couldn't afford not to care anymore. Taking a deep breath, I chuckled a little to calm myself and to let myself out.

"well...thanks for the grub. you really 'out'do yourself," I said, pointing towards the door before I started backing away. "i'll show myself out, and hey. thanks for listening to my 'sticky' situation." I chuckled at the jokes that had fallen flat. That last one was supposed to be about the bottles of syrup that I'd guzzled down, but there was no buildup to it. I was getting sloppy, but I didn't care about that. As I left the warm, cozy confines of Grillby's, I looked out towards Snowdin's wilderness. I considered using a shortcut, but I knew that Papyrus would be wondering where I was.

"SANS!" Speak of the devil. I turned to see Papyrus running down the snowy lot, dodging and weaving past the other monsters. His display of coolness didn't faze me, but I smiled and chilled back for a moment, gloved hands back in my pockets.

"'sup bro?"

"SANS! WE JUST GOT A NEW MISSION FROM UNDYNE! SHE'LL BE AT OUR POSTS TODAY!" My eyes flashed for a moment in surprise. Undyne was taking over our posts?

"wait...papyrus...what do you mean? aren't supposed to be at Snowdin's Edge every day?"

"THAT'S THE BEST PART BROTHER! WE ARE GOING TO BE STAYING WITH THE KING TODAY! NYEHEHEH!" My chilled attitude immediately fell flat, as I took my hands out of my pockets. One to my chin, one to my sides, as I tried to wrap my head around this. Every time they RESET, Papyrus and I would be at our normal posts that day, when they came along. Something was very wrong here. I had to find out what.

"oh...that's pretty cool bro. hey...i need to check on something real quick."

"BUT SANS! WE NEED TO GO NOW! UNDYNE SAID WE BOTH NEED TO BE THERE AT EIGHT O'CLOCK SHARP!"

"i'll take a shortcut bro. i'll meet you there."

"OH...NO WORRIES THEN. THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST DAY EVER! I WILL FINALLY BECOME A ROYAL GUARD, AND I'LL BE EVEN COOLER THAN EVER!"

"don't let all that cool go to your head. you might get a brainfreeze."

"SANS! DON'T RUIN THIS MOMENT WITH YOUR JAPES!" I chuckled as Papyrus began running down the path, "Nyeh-ing" all the way out of Snowdin, and presumably to the King's castle. Turning back towards the gates of Snowdin, I sighed and walked behind the Welcome to Snowdin sign to make a shortcut to the Door. I had to make sure that they didn't return.

* * *

"CHARA, please...wake up! You are the future of humans and monsters..." Immediately, I jolted up...this was the third time that night I had been awoken by Asgore's voice telling me to get up. However, always right before it, I would hear other whispers...darker ones, telling me to go back and finish the job. This new run...it was almost unbearable already. I was being tormented by the guilt that I felt from fighting Sans, from killing everyone. The fact that I could feel Flowey's icy cold stare through the walls didn't help either. I put a hand to my forehead and wiped away the cold sweat that had started to bead. After wiping the sweat away, I looked down at my hands…pristine, clean. Not at all the hands of a murderer; but I felt like one. I could faintly see, in my mind's eye, the dust that used to coat my hands, arms, and clothes. I knew that it would continue to haunt me for the rest of my life, but knowing that I couldn't sleep without that voice in my head telling me to CONTINUE forward...it was insanity. I had to do something to bring my mind away from it...perhaps some more of Mom's pie would ease my nerves. Opening the door to my room, I looked out to the dark house, the lights off. In the living room, the flickering of the fireplace warmed my heart, and I snuck out, creeping quietly across the living room and into the kitchen. Upon the table, the remaining slice of pie, still warm, remained.

"Tor...Mom probably laid the pie there," I said quietly to myself. It was an obvious statement. Of course she did. She probably still felt heartbroken at how I had bawled myself to bed, the weight of a thousand timelines crashing upon me.

"Huh...you know, I would NEVER have known that if you didn't say things to yourself so much Chara," I heard a familiar, condescending, cheery voice respond back. The blood in my body immediately froze, and I turned to see Flowey, sitting on the table, giving me that cheerful, innocent smile.

"I didn't think big kids cried either. What was with the waterworks? Trying something new to make that old hag regret it all later when you kill her?" I clenched my fists and merely ignored the irritating cretin to retrieve the pie. Grabbing a plate and taking a seat at the table, I could feel his cold, SOUL-less eyes staring through me. However, I ignored him best I could and concentrated on that last slice of pie.

"Tell me. What's the plan? Wait! No, don't tell me...I don't wanna be spoiled before the surprise." Not surprised by the flower's incessant demands to converse with me, I obliged.

"You wanna know 'buddy?'" I asked. The flower's petals immediately drooped back a little bit at the venom in my tone at the word buddy.

"Chara?"

"No!" I replied, my voice starting to raise a little. Having only one bite of pie, I was already feeling APPREHENSION to finish it with Flowey around. "I'm not Chara. I'm sorry, but whoever Chara was is gone...and I'm not playing your games anymore, you psycho!"

"Wow...I didn't know...what an IDIOT you were. Do you think I was talking to you?!" The flower mocked.

"Yeah...I did. Because I reminded you of Chara, didn't I? But I'm not them. I never was," I replied. The flower tilted his head to the side, but before he could say anything else, I merely pushed the pie towards him.

"Here...have a piece. I want to make myself clear when I tell you this, and make sure that you feel at least a little sweeter in the end," I mocked. Flowey merely looked to the pie before looking back up at me.

"I'm done with it. I'm done with RESET. I'm not a pawn of your games anymore...I'm staying here and CONTINUING with Mom."

"Ha! Please...you think that you'll stay here? You'll get bored eventually, then you'll have to kill her to feel excited again."

"No. I won't. I'm not SOUL-less like you." Flowey was about to laugh before I interrupted again. "Playing your game has taken years from me. I can't even remember the Surface all that well anymore...you took my life away...I'm taking yours. I'm not going to fight Asgore...I'm not going to go further into the Underground. I'm staying here." Immediately, Flowey's face morphed as he laughed, a despicable, devilish smile upon the little flower's face.

"Poor little humans. Always so adamant, so DETERMINED to stand their ground. You know I'm right...you will get bored eventually...then we can finish what we started." Pulling the pie back and taking a bite, I leaned towards the despicable, pitiful creature and sighed.

"I'm not a murderer."

"Your denial says otherwise," Flowey sung in mocking fashion.

"You don't scare me Asriel." Saying Flowey's real name stopped him before he could reply, and I smirked, a glint of DETERMINATION in my eyes as I slowly cut off another piece and placed it into my mouth. "You don't scare me anymore. After years of fighting you, and trying to SAVE you...I can only pity you and your lack of a SOUL. Asriel...I know you want to feel...but that doesn't mean you have to make sure everyone else doesn't feel either. Leave me alone, and maybe you might grow a spark of a SOUL." Flowey's petals shivered for a moment, and I merely made a brushing motion towards him.

"Now was there anything else you needed, or were you just here to be condescending?" Flowey tried to process the rejection of playing his game, but before he had a chance to, I looked up.

"If you want to talk, I'm willing to talk. I'm willing to understand, but not play by your rules anymore." Taking a bite of pie, I looked towards the fireplace before I turned back to see Flowey gone, a small indent in the floor where he once bloomed. Seeing Flowey leave filled me with DETERMINATION, and I created a save point after finishing my pie. As I got up to go to bed, I felt...satisfied in some way. It was a good feeling to finally say "no more" and to not take part in that god-damned flower's games. I would carry the guilt that he bestowed upon me for life...but at least I had finally said enough was enough. Tucking myself in and falling back into the void of slumber, I knew that it would be a matter of time before I was woken up again by those voices in my head, but at least they might be a little quieter. RESET after RESET, and this was the one where I could do as I wished. Tying loose ends was finally bringing everything full circle.

"I should've done this years ago," I thought to myself as I drifted off.

* * *

There I stood. I just stood there, waiting, watching. No sound, no jokes, nothing from me or the other Monsters around Snowdin's wilderness. The door hadn't been opened, and it was beginning to bother me even more than if it had been opened. As I watched from the trees, I began to wonder how long it would take them to get through killing again. Maybe that's why they RESET. Maybe they got bored of their current genocide and decided to go on another. Who knows? It didn't matter to me. I had to be ready for anything coming through that door, and no one was going to start anything again. The promise that I had made was voided when they RESET for genocide. If they wanted to come through, they had to come through me. I waited for hours on end, waiting for those doors to open. It had gotten to the point where I was just standing in front of the door now, instead of within the trees nearby, half asleep.

"knock, knock. who's there? bad time. bad time who? do you wanna have a bad time?" I japed, anticipating the kid to answer. Some monsters would see me in front of the door, but walk past me, not bothering to see if I was alright. I hadn't even seen Undyne yet, but I knew that, sometime today, Frisk would be coming through that door, and the nightmare would start all over again. As I was about to fall asleep, I heard a knock on the door, and my eyes snapped open. I looked around, and heard the knock again.

"who's there?" I asked, ready to hear their voice reply. I had a gaster blaster set up behind me, and my hand at the ready to grab onto their SOUL. Instead, I got a welcome, and frankly relieving surprise that made me dissipate the attacks.

"A miss"

"a miss who?" I answered. I heard a stifled giggle from behind the doorway before she answered.

"A miss you. Hee hee hee." This wasn't a new joke, but I chuckled anyways. After all, a joke was a joke.

"heard that one before. you sure your aim's getting better?'" I heard a chuckle from behind the door.

"And I have heard that one before too, Sans the Skeleton." she replied in a rather proud tone of voice. I chuckled in response, but my smile dimmed a little as I remembered why I was here.

"hey, i need to ask you somethin' real quick...before we get back into routine."

"By all means, ask me anything Sans." Hearing this, I took a deep breath.

"has anyone come through the ruins? like, someone strange, or odd? someone 'funny' maybe?" I heard no response from her for a bit, but when she answered, my perpetual smile drooped, and I nearly fell backwards in terror.

"I actually have. I found a child that had fallen near the ruins. For someone who had just fallen down from up above, they looked so happy."

"a kid, huh?" Hearing "them" made it clear as day that Frisk was in there. It took all my willpower to blast open the door and find them, but I resisted, and took a deep breath.

"Yes. A human child Sans. As it turns out, they love puzzles, and are —"

"sorry to interrupt old lady, but...where is this human now?" I was met with silence from the other side, so I asked again.

"where are they?"

"I...cannot say."

"don't lie to me please. i've had enough liars and cheaters. i don't find them 'humerus,'" I said.

"Sans, I cannot tell you." I sighed, dropping any comedy or humor of any kind.

"if you don't tell me, you could be having a bad time and not even know it. i need to know where they are." After I was met with silence, I was prepared to just walk away and not care again; I was prepared to leave her to her fate when Frisk inevitably went back on a rampage. However, as I turned to leave, I heard a few clicks from the door, and turned to see it open.

"this is a new one," I whispered to myself. When the doors opened, I saw Tori standing there, looking more serious than I had usually seen her on any run. Looking down at me, she was somewhat surprised by my stature. She didn't remember a thing about it from the other RESETS, but after her initial shock at my stature, she gestured inside.

"Please...come in. We can talk more over some leftover pie I made the other day."

"hey, don't sweat it. it just 'sweetens' the deal," I jested. Toriel couldn't help but put a hand to her mouth to stifle her giggle; I then obliged her request and stepped inside, following her down the torch-lit corridors as she closed the door behind us.

"hey...so I didn't get your name," I lied. It was just something I needed to get out of the way so that I could be more formal with her.

"My name is Toriel."

"nice name. so...what made the kid you met seem off?" I asked as we stepped down the corridor to another set of doors.

"Truth be told, I felt as though I had met them before. As though I was meeting an old friend for the first time in years," she responded. It hurt for her to say that. I knew that they may not be as "friendly" as others may think, but I listened on.

"And, as it would have it, I feel as though they knew me all too well. It was...frightening in some sense, but strangely comforting in another. It was...curious," she said, "When they asked to leave to go home, back to the surface, I...let them." I nodded as I listened, helping to open the doors leading into a dark room, with only a patch of grass and a yellow flower shown by a ray of what I assumed as daylight or even moonlight.

"so, you were going to let them leave?" I asked, almost afraid of the consequences.

"Yes...but, in a strange turn of events, they did not want to leave. They started crying about how they hurt a lot of monsters...they even mentioned you..." I immediately stopped at the fact that they had mentioned my name, turning to her as she opened the doors that led to another corridor.

"Would you know anything about this Sans?" she asked. I was afraid to answer, afraid of what the consequences could bring. Instead of answering her truthfully, I shrugged.

"can't say i do tori," I lied. The look she had given me as an answer was definitely one of suspicion, and I'm pretty certain that she caught me red-handed in the lie, but she decided to not press any further on it. Following her once more, I questioned her more on the matter. As it turns out, monsters just avoided them for some reason. I could see why, obviously, but it was strange...odd. At the same time, they seemed to be having vivid feelings of anguish and guilt over the same run. Granted, Toriel couldn't tell why, but I was more than interested in seeing Frisk again since our last encounter now; not really to fight them, but to see how they were doing. Stepping into her home, however, I didn't see them anywhere in sight. To the right, there was the living room, where the fireplace crackled and blazed, but no sign of them, and to the left, a hallway leading to what I assumed was just some bedrooms. Walking in, I took a seat and lounged back on one of the dining room chairs.

"Hold on a moment Sans. I will return with the pie." I did as told, waiting for pie, as I looked around for any extra pairs of eyes watching.

* * *

As soon as I saw Toriel head down into the basement, I knew something was up. When I heard an extra, familiar voice coming from the tunnels below, I panicked and had gone to hide in my bedroom. Peeking out from the door, I could see the outline of white fur on blue clothes, and my suspicions were immediately confirmed. Sans had come by to finish what I was not willing to. Looking out, I saw Toriel handing him a slice of pie as they talked, most likely about me. Shutting my door as quietly as possible, I began to pace back and forth, panicking internally.

"What the Hell is going on?! Why is he here?!" I yelled at myself internally. Looking around for a place to hide, I looked towards the bed, and looked under. There was plenty of space underneath, but it was going to be a tough squeeze. As I was about to get under the bed, however, I heard Toriel's voice from the living room, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"My child, could you please come here for a moment? I need to talk with you about something important." My heart skipped a beat in pure, utter terror at her request. Turning to the door, I opened it just a smidge to peek out, seeing both Sans and Toriel looking down the hallway towards me. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and walked down towards them. My eyes were immediately drawn to Sans, who I could feel was clenching his fists in anger, despite his perpetually-unmoving grin. Taking a seat next to Toriel, away from Sans, I looked to her with as straight a face as I could pull.

"What do we need to talk about?"

"Whether or not you know this monster or not." Immediately, I looked over to Sans, who just shrugged and listened on. Taking a deep breath, I nodded in reply.

"I do know him, and —"

"My child," Toriel interrupted. Immediately, I shut my mouth and listened.

"When you came back from the door downstairs, you said that you had hurt a lot of monsters. You said that Sans was one of the monsters you had hurt. I want to know how, and why you would do such a thing."

"kid. i think it's time for you to come clean," Sans interjected. "what you're doin' is 'SOUL'-crushing." I was deathly afraid of Sans' pun, as I knew it was a subtle, but no-less serious threat, but seeing Toriel stare Sans down for the pun was more than enough to keep me from panicking.

"I...can't 'come clean.'"

"Why ever not my child? You are in good hands."

"I...just can't. What I did was more than awful...it's something that I couldn't bear the thought of finishing. I was bored, and curious...and it seemed so tempting at the time...I just couldn't.

"Well, what is 'it' exactly?" At that point, I looked up, teary-eyed back to Toriel.

"I told you...I can't tell you what 'it' was."

"so...you're gonna just ignore everything you did and play 'happily ever after' like always? that's a new low, even for you kid," Sans interjected. Now I was angry. He wasn't helping the situation at all, and even though there was little else to say about it, I had to tell Sans off.

"I didn't mean to go down that path!" I barked, "Admit it Sans, you would have done the same if you were in my shoes!"

"My child!" Toriel yelped in shock at my outburst.

"if i was in your shoes kid, i wouldn't have RESET every other day after growing bored of the ending i got, i wouldn't have abused the power that i was gifted through DETERMINATION, and i wouldn't have killed everyone in the Underground in a bored curiosity, because i don't kill my friends!" I heard Toriel gasp at Sans' comment on my genocide run. I had enough of him, but as I was about to retort, Sans stood up and his eye flashed, stopping me dead in my tracks, ready for another fight.

"kid, don't make me do this again. i don't wanna have to put you six feet under again." Taking a moment to assess the situation, I calmly took Toriel's advice to heart and just talked.

"Sans, I don't want to fight," I tried to explain. He wasn't having any of it.

"frisk, i told you at the end of our last fight that if we were really friends, you wouldn't come back. didn't i?" I tried to reason with the skeleton — whose familiar, friendly glow in his eyes had disappeared, replaced by dark, angry pits — only to get shut down by the same question.

"didn't...i 'pal?'" At this point, I was ready to defend myself, seeing Sans just waiting for me to make the first move. However, before anything else could happen, Toriel had stepped in front of me to protect me.

"Sans the Skeleton, I do not know what exactly is going on here, but you will not lay a finger on this child!"

"don't have to. they're in my pockets, now stand back. it's time to 'take off the gloves.'"

"Sans, you made a promise to me...that you would not harm the child, and to help watch them, to take care of them, to keep an eye socket out for them." I sighed, shaking my head. I knew that it wouldn't do any good to mention old promises to him. After all, he felt betrayed, and rightfully so. Watching Sans shake his head as his glow returned just confirmed that he was beyond promises at this point.

"this is why i don't make promises tori. they always end up being broken." I had just about enough of this argument, and as the light in the room flickered and dimmed away to black and white, the red of my SOUL showing through the black and white outlines, I stepped past Toriel.

"My child, stand back!"

"No Mom," I replied, "This is between him and me."

"i'm ready to go again kid, are you?" Checking Sans, I saw that his stats hadn't changed. He was still the easiest enemy to beat, but instead of going to FIGHT, Bringing up the combat menu, I went straight to ACT, and I saw a plethora of new options, usually not available in the ACT menu unless it was for specific monsters. There was more than enough options, but right before "tell joke," there was "talk." Pressing it, I sighed and began.

"Sans...you have no reason to trust me...not after what I did in 'that' run...but now, I think I understand." As I talked, Sans had set up one of those laser skulls behind him, and it was charging it up for his turn. "I think I understand why I shouldn't have abused that power. It became a perpetual cycle of Hell for me. And I'm willing to bet that it was the same for you. I don't intend to RESET...not now, not ever." After speaking, my turn ended, and Sans began his. However, instead of attacking, he just responded back.

"kid, it isn't as simple as making a new promise. you made a mockery of all of our lives. you made us all your playthings, and played with us until we broke. i can't trust you, or forgive you for what you did. frankly...i'm tired of having to care this much. if that means i need to bring your SOUL to asgore, then i will, but like it matters all that much anyways; as soon as you're dead, you'll just RESET anyways." After he spoke, I returned in kind, going back to the ACT menu and choosing to talk again, rather than fight. I could only imagine how proud Toriel must've been behind me.

"And guess what Sans, I'm tired of not caring; having the power to SAVE, LOAD, and RESET had its perks, but eventually, I became something that I thought I had hated the most, that I could never understand because I wouldn't go that far. But when you do run after run, and to think that you've heard and seen everything that is there to be offered, you become apathetic to everyone else, and will do anything to relieve that apathy," I said, stepping closer to Sans as I did.

"At this point, I don't wanna play happy endings...I don't plan to go through the Underground...not again. That temptation is too great when I'm down there, alone in that cycle. I just want to stay here, with Mom, and grow up. If you still feel you need to kill me, then please, do it, but do it with the knowledge that now, instead of killing an apathetic creature that'll toy around with you, you're another monster killing another human who'll never have that last chance to grow up." I then sighed and ended my turn with that, holding my arms out, waiting for the end again. I waited for that cold, dark embrace of the Void, but it never came. Opening my eyes, I saw the glow in Sans' had returned despite the color still being gone. He looked conflicted as I waited for him to kill me, but in the end, I saw him sigh give in.

"kid, you 'con'-founded me, but i s'pose i can't say no to another liar like you. look, if you're serious about not doing another reset, i can't really say i killed a kid and was fine with it. stay in the ruins frisk, but if i catch you out in snowdin, just know i'm not gonna be such a n-'ice' guy." Despite the puns, no one laughed or even giggled. Toriel watched Sans closely as he got up and stretched for a moment, the room returning to normal and my SOUL returning to hiding within me. I merely watched him with remorse over what I had done, and how I had broken his trust.

"whelp, i've gotta go. busy day for me and papyrus...and hey, frisk? if you're really sure about this, then make sure you promise me that tori will always have someone to look after and tell bad jokes to. a 'pun'ishment that's right up your alley." I nodded in reply, smiling at the pun, and watched as Sans winked started heading down the stairs.

"Will you need my help to leave?" Toriel asked, her expression aloof to all that had happened within the short time span.

"nah. i'll take a 'short'cut." Sans then put a hand above his head to give homage to his short stature in the form of a joke before heading down the stairs. I didn't bother going after him, because I knew he'd be long-gone before I had the chance to even talk with him a little more about.

* * *

Watching the child talk with Sans, I now saw what I was harboring in my home. While they were human, and acted human...according to Sans, in a past life or something of the sort, this child had killed everyone, including me. I felt that I needed to get the story straight from them now, before anything else.

"My child...could we talk for but a moment?" Watching them turn, I could see the APPREHENSION in their eyes after what had happened, but I had to be firm. A good mother always knew when she had to talk with her child, after all.

"Yeah Mom?" While the feeling of flattery by being called "mom" was still there, it also stung a little bit because of what I now knew.

"I want the whole story. You should not have to lie about such things."

"Mom...I want to tell you...but the truth is awful. Wouldn't it be better to —"

"Frisk," I interrupted, using the name that I had heard Sans use. Saying their name immediately shut their mouth, and I continued. "I know that you feel that the truth will hurt me more than it will you, but what I saw last night, and what I saw just now has told me otherwise; you are hurting far more than I would. In order to properly help you rise above what has happened in the past, and to make you feel better about yourself for the future, I feel that we should talk about it. Sans said that you had...killed us..." Immediately, I saw the APPREHENSION in their eyes grow at the mention of murder.

"Tell me what happened Frisk. You have my word that I won't stop loving you for it." Hearing that, I saw that same spark of DETERMINATION return to them, if but for a moment. In response, they sighed and took a seat.

"So...where do I even begin?"

"Let us start where it is easier to talk about."

"Well...that would start when I fell into the Underground...only...it was another time...a time when I was younger, more eager, less grownup." I nodded and took a seat back at the table with them, allowing them to continue.

"I figured out that when I died, I could 'LOAD' back to a previous 'SAVE' point: an imprint of DETERMINATION that I'd left behind every once in a while. With that in mind, I had been through so much in such a short amount of time...and after the first time, I was told that I could reset the whole thing...to go back in time, and to get a better ending. So I did. And after the first time, we were all on the surface, everyone was happy...it was perfect," they said, smiling at the fond memory. I merely nodded, listening on. However, that fond memory almost immediately turned dark as they started to remember the less fond memories.

"That's...when it started to go downhill. As I said, it was perfect...too perfect. I grew bored, and going back Underground after running away, I had the first reset that really started it. I wanted something different, but each and every time I gave everyone their happy ending, always doing something a little different, I still grew bored of it. In some, I spent more time with Sans and his brother. In others, I spent more time with you...and in others still, I even spent time with Asgore. But they all ended the same way. That perfect happy ending where we were all on the surface, and where we could all live 'happily ever after.'"

"And this wasn't enough for you?" I asked. They nodded, and looked at their hands in almost a combination of awe and fear.

"I had the possibility to change time itself, and I always felt bored by what I got. I don't know how long I've been doing this for...but I think it must've been years," As soon as I heard that they may have spent years getting the same thing over and over again, I felt my heart ache, but I knew that wasn't the end of it. Their look turned dark as they remembered what I only assumed was the time when they had decided to murder.

"Then...I got a little more curious. After enough times, I felt that I had to do something that I'd never done before. Instead of helping monsters escape...I felt that, in order to truly satisfy myself at the time...I had to kill them...and it all started with you. When I started this...'genocide run,' I was ready to push myself forward, see how far my DETERMINATION would take me. For me, killing my friends, and...my family was the ultimate test in a way. The first few times I killed, especially with you and Papyrus...those hurt the most. But after that, it became easier to hurt. It was almost a GAME." At the fact that they called such heinous, awful actions a game was disheartening, but I didn't let that stop me from listening. I nodded in understanding, but one thing was still bugging me.

"But what does that have to do with Sans?" I asked. They chuckled a little bit at the question before answering.

"That's just it...it has everything to do with him. At the end of the road, at the end of every run, he was there to judge me in Asgore's castle. He was there to judge my actions, and to see whether or not I was able to CONTINUE without fighting him. It wasn't until I went on genocide that I fought Sans. He killed me, again and again, all to prove that he wasn't going to let me through. It was probably after around twelve, maybe fifteen times that I realized I couldn't do it...it all came back to bite me in the end, and when I wanted to be forgiven, Sans killed me one last time, and told me to never come back...but I couldn't leave him like that. I couldn't let the world be like that. I had to make it right again, get us all our happy ending," they said. While their story was tragic in the sense that they had been through so much, it was still awful for me to hear that they had killed everyone, in such a hateful manner. As I looked back, I began to hear a voice that had asked them a simple question: "you really hate me this much?" As soon as I had said it in my head, I began to tear up, knowing that they had, at one point, fully intended to kill me and all of monsterkind.

"And then...as you know...I couldn't do that either; I was just tired of trying the same thing over and over again...so I decided to stop playing this game of life and death. I can't go back out there; I'd just fall back into the loop." Watching them struggle to finish was heartbreaking to say the least.

"Mo...Toriel. I'm so sorry." It was then that the child, with tears in their eyes, looked down at the table in an attempt to hide their tears from me. As much as I wanted to scold them, punish them for such heinous acts, I didn't have the strength of character to do so. I couldn't punish them even more for something that they already seemed heartbroken about, even traumatized over. In the end, I couldn't hate them; I still saw them as a good child, but one that needed to finally relax with a family, and to not have to be responsible for all our fates. In that moment, I placed a hand on their back, smiling as they looked back up to me, wiping away their tears with the other hand.

"As far as I am concerned Frisk, you made a mistake...but that does not mean that you cannot make up for it. I can still be your mother, and you can still stay with me. I forgive you for what you have done my child, but if you truly are sorry. You must promise me that you will never do what you did again."

"You have my word Mom. It won't happen again." The sincerity in their voice at their promise made my heart ache a little less, and smiling, I looked out the window at a world of new opportunities for them.

"What do you say we do something fun today?" They smiled and nodded in reply.

"I'd like that." After they accepted the offer, I took their hand and walked out the door with them to explore and have fun, to get our minds off of the depressing and awful actions they had taken long ago.

* * *

"SANS! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN LAZYBONES?!"

"sorry bro. I told you i had to check on something." Papyrus was steaming. I had just gotten back to Snowdin, and decided to take a nap after being exhausted over Frisk and their little sob story about how they didn't intend for things to go down the way they did. But now that I had closure on Frisk and what they were doing, I was just fine with taking a quick nap.

"AND WHAT WOULD BE SO IMPORTANT AS TO KEEP YOU FROM HANGING OUT WITH YOUR COOL BROTHER?"

"it was something of 'into-rest,'" I replied. I immediately saw Pap's eyes go wide and angry at the pun.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAANS!"

"what? i found what I was looking for, and i bet you could too. i bet you could do it with your 'eyes closed.'" Papyrus merely rolled his eyes, hands on his hip bones.

"NOW COME ON SANS, THAT WAS A BAD ONE, EVEN BY YOUR STANDARDS."

"you could say that my puns are bad to the 'bone,'" I finished, causing Pap to pick me up and start carrying me in his arms.

"SANS, IT'S TIME TO STOP BEING LAZY AND GET TO WORK!" I chuckled at his comment.

"wake me when we get there then bro."

"SOMETIMES, I FEEL LIKE THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS ANY WORK DONE SANS. BUT I CAN'T BLAME YOU TOO MUCH I SUPPOSE...AFTER ALL...YOUR NIGHTMARES ARE REALLY STARTING TO GET YOU, AREN'T THEY?" Immediately, my sockets dimmed at the mention of "nightmares." Before Papyrus could see though, I just shrugged and played it cool as I normally would.

"nah...you know me papyrus. i don't get bothered by too much." It was at that moment that Papyrus set me down. In the time it had taken me to say that, we had already gotten to Waterfall. Suffice to say, I was impressed at how fast Papyrus was getting with his exercises.

"SANS...YOU WOULDN'T LIE TO ME, WOULD YOU?"

"'course not bro. i'll 'lie' down on the job, but i wouldn't lie to you." Papyrus wasn't even mad about the pun, which was a little concerning to say the least.

"BROTHER...I CANNOT HELP BUT GET THIS NAGGING FEELING THAT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SO TRUTHFUL ABOUT YOUR NIGHTMARES AS YOU SEEM. YOU SHRUG THEM OFF AS JOKES, BUT I HEAR YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHTS." I merely listened to him worry about me, which made me feel a little ashamed. Had I really been worrying him this much?

"YOU'RE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT 'BAD TIMES' AND LAST NIGHT…YOU REALLY SCARED ME. YOU WOKE UP IN COLD SWEATS AT LEAST TEN TIMES LAST NIGHT, AND THAT'S NOT COUNTING OTHER NIGHTS. WHEN YOU WAKE UP, YOU ALWAYS SEEM LESS LIKE YOURSELF. YOU'RE...TWITCHY, AND NOT IN THE BEST OF MOODS. YOU END UP FORCING YOURSELF TO BE YOURSELF FOR THE DAY, AND IT'S OBVIOUS SANS." I put a hand behind my head and looked down, ashamed for lying to him about what was really happening...but I really couldn't tell him.

"SANS, IT SCARES ME TO EVEN THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY BE DREAMING ABOUT THAT CAUSES SUCH FEELINGS. I KNOW YOU'RE BOTHERED BY THEM, AND I CAN SEE YOU'RE SCARED OF WHATEVER YOUR NIGHTMARES ARE. JUST TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON SANS, AND I CAN HELP YOU..." Rubbing the back of my head, I looked up to Papyrus, seeing him kneeling to my height to listen to my woes. But such woes weren't for his heart. All he had to concentrate on was being his usual, cool self.

"aww jeez Paps. i'm sorry i'm worrying you. but i'm fine. nightmares are nightmares. nothing you can really do but push through 'em and keep on sleeping. don't worry 'bout me bro. what you should worry about is how you could impress king fluffybuns." Immediately, Papyrus stood back up, his concern dashed away by his confident, cool-guy attitude, which was something that made me smile a little bit more in relief.

"YOU'RE RIGHT SANS! AFTER ALL, THIS IS MY BIG OPPORTUNITY! THIS IS WHERE I CAN MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE! POWER! POPULARITY! EH...PRESTIGIOUSNESS! I CAN BECOME A ROYAL GUARD IF I JUST IMPRESS THE KING ENOUGH! HE SEEMED TO REALLY LIKE ME AROUND YESTERDAY! MAYBE SOME OF MY FINEST SPAGHETTI AND SOME TASTEFUL PUZZLES WILL CONVINCE KING FLUFFYBOY TO...SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!" I chuckled at Papyrus' name for Asgore now.

"what? don't get 'sternum' with me. i didn't call him fluffyboy. that was all you bro."

"DOG GONE IT SANS! ENOUGH WITH YOUR PUNS! YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES WILL NOT STOP ME FROM BECOMING A ROYAL GUARD!"

"heh. whatever you say. you'll be 'bone'ified royal guard in no time at all."

"SANS! ENOUGH! I WANT TO BE LEFT WITHOUT ANOTHER BONE-RELATED PUN IN MY LIFE!" I smiled and winked at him, getting ready to run and make a shortcut when I could get out of sight to Asgore's castle.

"you wanna be left a'bone?' it's alright paps. i understand. you don't need to tell me twice about my jokes. they're a 'waist' anyways." As soon as I said "waist," Papyrus' eyes flared a bright orange, and I watched him summon a bone-club, ready to beat me senseless for the puns.

"LAST CHANCE BROTHER! IF YOU CANNOT STOP JAPING, I WILL HAVE TO KNOCK THE JAPES RIGHT OUT OF YOU!"

"don't see a door here though," I replied, shrugging and winking as I left him with one last pun before making a run for it. "'bone' voyage bro." As I ran, my mind began to finally wander away from the human in the Ruins, and I began to relax again for the first time all day.


	4. A Happy Ending?

**Undertale: The Final Choice  
** **Chapter 3: A Happy Ending?**

* * *

Nothing. Since I had made my promise to Sans, there was nothing; no voices telling me to stay DETERMINED, no desire to CONTINUE forwards. For the past few weeks or so, I had been having the time of my life just living with Tori–no…Mom. Oh Goatmom, she didn't change all that much. The two days after the whole ordeal with Sans was tough though. She couldn't bother to look me in the eye, despite her saying that nothing had changed. I knew she had lied when she said that. In all of the runs I had in the past, her relationship with Asgore was something to go off of for that feeling. At least she was treating me better than Goatdad, since she was still willing to talk to me and love me. She was…well…a caring mother. At times, I could just stay in her embrace and know that everything was fine. She knew I had issues now…issues that made me difficult to deal with, but she went for it day by day to help me regain my sense of innocence.

Every day was practically a treat. Instead of thinking on the fate of Monsters down here, I had the entire day to just…enjoy life as a kid again. I went out and about with Mom often, drew pictures, and even just took walks to explore the Ruins to my heart's content. I busied myself with what I assumed normal kids did in their spare time. While I got used to the loneliness and solitude of the Ruins, I didn't mind it. I had Mom, who was still just as caring and loving as ever, if not a little more attentive to me, and sometimes Flowey to keep me company…though Flowey…Asriel was something else altogether.

He was…difficult to deal with. While he knew what I had done the previous run, I had told him that I was not going to play his game, and despite several times where he attempted to attack me, I eventually got him to calm down and realize that I wasn't going to move on from here. After that…it just…kinda clicked somewhere that I was just someone he could confide in. We both had messed up pasts after all. Him with the whole dying and coming back as a soulless husk…and me…well…the scars of countless RESETs — playing god with peoples' lives — and genocide still haunt me. When I wasn't with Mom or doing some exploring on my own, I could always count on Flowey to be following my every step, if not trying to make me trip over myself. I think that, in a way, we kinda supported each other. While Asriel's capacity for any real love was gone — and Flowey was a straight–up asshole, something I had no problem telling him every time he did something that warranted it — I think that just confiding and understanding one–another helped us to get over some of our issues. He wasn't the most sincere, but there was still some deep–down compassion.

Flowey was less murderous and more…curious now; kinda like how you get after a certain amount of RESETs. He was just a kid, after all, like me…a kid that had tried so hard to find a purpose, when all he really needed was just someone to understand his plights. Sometimes, he'd try to move back to reliving the past, to going back through the Underground, but I had a knack for getting him back into a mindset of just…letting go and going with the flow of time; and sometimes…sometimes I would relive those dark memories of THAT run in my mind. Oddly enough, despite Flowey's coldness to it, and his enjoyment of suffering…I think he saw much of himself in me, and consoled me on my own personal demons. We were two sides of the same coin, and I think he appreciated the company and solace as much as I did. Though how much, I was never really sure. While I still wanted to SAVE him from his fate…I didn't really think there was anything I could do about it but talk to him about it.

And then there was the rest of the Underground. While I didn't leave the Ruins, Mom always would do so to go on a shopping trip, coming back with plenty of stories to keep me entertained. In those times, I had been tempted to go out and see how everyone else was doing, but Sans' warning had always stuck with me since that day. Sans sometimes came around every so often to check up on me, see how I was doing here. The way he spoke still showed that he didn't trust me all that much…but I couldn't blame him. He was snarky yet jokey at the same time when he wanted to be, but with me…it was almost always serious. Questions I asked, like how Undyne was doing and how Papyrus' cooking was going…they just seemed to float over his head as he kept on bringing back up painful memories or pushing to topics of greater importance to him, like the RESET. Unless Goatmom was around, he never was in a joyous mood with me, despite what I could only assume was that plastered grin. While I had problems letting go of the past…I don't think he really cared for the future. He was stuck in the past, like Flowey was. And with each passing day and night, I always assumed he'd be ready for another RESET.

"so kiddo…got any plans for the day?" he asked. This was familiar. Ask how I was doin', then ask about the RESET.

"Alright Sans. I get it. I have the power to RESET time and space and play god…doesn't mean I'm going to use it again asshat."

"would tori be alright with you, uh, y'know…sayin' curses?" I merely gave an APPREHENSIVE "pfft" in response from behind the door.

"look kid. i know how this is gonna go. you're gonna get bored eventually just bein' a normal kid. i know your SOUL too well for that."

"Clearly not enough," I shot back, my tone snarky and lackadaisical.

"just lemme know when you're gonna do it again kiddo. i don't wanna have to care too much." He was persistent today. Usually, with these arguments, he gave up after the first attempt. But today, it was different. Sometimes, he'd just give up, and at other times, his persistence was borderline irritating.

"Sans…your problem is that you're still living in the past."

"kinda hard when your entire life is literally stuck in the past frisk. i'm done playin' 20 questions with ya. i just…i need to know. when do you plan on RESETing?" I creaked the door open just a bit so Sans could get a good look at me in the light. Despite still having the purple and blue motif to my clothes, I had changed it up somewhat. Instead of just a simple shirt, it was a purple shirt with a blue coat, with a hand–stitched delta rune. As winter had been coming closer, Mom had insisted that she get me a proper coat for when it gets too cold out to go in a simple shirt and pants. I didn't mind it, and frankly, it kinda reminded me of before I left the Underground, of my dad.

"I've told you probably 50 times already Sans…I ain't RESETing again. I'm finally happy with what I've got. I just kinda…needed to stop and smell the flowers." Sans' perpetual grin as his eye sockets dimmed only grew a bit.

"don't think i don't know your game. i know you hang out with the flower. you two are plannin' somethin', and i just wanna be in the loop so i can keep a socket out for my bro." Taking his hands out of his coat pocket, he shrugged as he saw DETERMINATION to defend Flowey light up my eyes as a new SAVE point appeared next to me.

"Now see here skelebro!" I snapped, "You can leave Flowey out of this! We've just been talking and reconciling with ourselves! I don't think you realize how IDIOTIC it sounds when you just…GRAH!" Slamming the door shut, I heard Sans' laser skulls hidden in the trees outside dissipate. I suppose it was insurance to keep me in place, but it still didn't make me feel any better that any time I opened the door to have a face–to–face convo with him, he didn't seem to trust me enough to keep his threat at bay. It was something I wouldn't tell Mom about, for sure, but I think she even knew that Sans was being a little hard.

"see…that's where i'm worried. that flower still talks with papyrus, and still tells him shit that'd make my skin crawl if i had any." I knew that Flowey still went through the rest of the Underground. I knew he still talked with people and tried to change things up. But, he told me and promised me on Asriel's name that he didn't do anything to hurt anyone. He could be mischievous, but he was practically harmless once I got under his petals a bit.

"Oh please. The only reason he makes your skin crawl is because you don't really get him like I do. I'll be honest, out of all my RESETs, this is probably the one you need to be least worried about Sans. I'm not out there, doing damage that I know I could do." Silence followed for a moment before I heard the skeleton sigh, not in defeat, but in annoyance.

"when are you gonna RESET?" he asked, frustrated that I wouldn't answer.

"Go to Grillby's and crack some jokes, mate," I hissed in reply, "I've told you my answer before: never. I'm DETERMINED to keep my word…just…relax, please." I could already feel Sans' cold glare on me through the door.

"i'll believe it when i don't see what could happen anymore," he replied gravely. I heard him start walking away and I cracked the door open a bit and cleared my throat to get the last laugh in.

"Same time next week then?"

"shut your trap." I watched as he walked into the forest to take a shortcut back to wherever he needed to be. I shut the door quietly and sighed as I walked up to the little patch of dirt nearby with the ray of sunshine coming down. Taking a moment to look up, I realized it must be rather late in the afternoon thanks to the slight orangish glow, which meant Mom probably had dinner ready or cooking. Walking back towards the corridor, I heard the dirt shuffle around, and I turned to see Flowey, sitting in the patch, a blank expression on his face.

"You don't believe that I'd hurt anyone, right?" he asked with mock innocence.

"Don't play coy with me Flowey. We both know you're the kind of person that would do that. But I know you wouldn't break your promise with me, man."

"How do you know that?" Flowey asked, an evil smile plastered upon his face.

"Simple…because friends don't break promises." The flower merely looked at me with a response in mind, before it escaped him. Even as a sociopathic husk, he was still a little dorky. A little something that made me remember that Flowey was still Asriel somewhere deep down.

"Look, Mom's probably gonna be worried sick about where I am if I don't hurry, so I'm gonna go grab some food…I'll stop by the flowerpatch outside the house and bring you some of Mom's cooking, alright?" Flowey merely rolled his eyes at me before ducking back down beneath the Earth. Looking back down the corridor, I went back through the second door and shut it behind me as quietly as I could before making my way quietly upstairs. The smell was rather intoxicating. What smelled like homemade waffles was being made, and the sickly sweet aroma of maple syrup wafted into my nose, which could only mean one thing: breakfast for dinner. Quietly maneuvering my way to my room, which Toriel assumed I was still in, I made certain to open and shut the door before walking back down the hall to the dining room.

"Well hello there, my child. Seeing as you have been down here for a little over one month, and seeing how yesterday evening was a little tougher on you, I have decided to make you breakfast for dinner. No snails this time." Smiling widely, I walked up and gave her a hug, grateful that she wasn't going to try and get me to eat snails again. Despite being a loving mother, she had a tendency to go overboard with snails, something which I didn't really take a liking to.

"Thanks Mom, you're awesome," I replied, taking my seat as Toriel watched me with a smile before returning to the kitchen to collect a plate for her and me. Upon the plate was a homemade waffle and some bacon with scrambled eggs on the side.

"My child, my hands are a little full at the moment. Would you mind going to the kitchen and grabbing the milk?" I shrugged and simply went to do as she asked, getting a thanks in reply as I set two glasses. While my waffle was plain, aside from the maple syrup, Toriel's was, as I expected, filled with snails. As we ate, a tension seemed to build from Toriel as I ate. While I didn't notice it at first, thanks to the deliciousness of Toriel's cooking, it all came to a head when she cleared her throat.

"Frisk. Why were you down at the door to the rest of the Underground again?" I knew that this moment would come, I knew that I was going to have to answer the question eventually…but I didn't know so soon.

"Well…I just needed a bit of that cool, Snowdin air."

"My child, you have been going down quite a lot, am I correct?" Aaaaaaaaaaand there it was…the killer strike. I didn't answer as the tension only served to grow. A knot seemed to form in my throat, and I took my glass of milk and took a nice swig to attempt to clear my throat.

"Frisk…" Her tone was low, as she scrutinized and CHECKed my stats: AT, 10; DF, 10; HP, 20; Hiding something from Mom…seemed about right to me.

"Okay, okay…I've been chatting with Sans." Hearing the name, and seeing how Sans almost broke his promise to Toriel had strained their friendship a bit. While they still enjoyed each other's company, Mom didn't like me to even consider trying talking with him.

"Oh, my child. You should know better than to talk with someone who wishes harm against you." I sighed in response.

"But he doesn't…he's just…scared. Just like I get sometimes."

"My child, he pointed his magic at you with the intent to hurt you. Talking with him alone…I worry about your safety."

"Mom…it's okay. So long as I don't push my boundaries, you know I'll be fine. Besides, even if he was to attack…I can safely say I can dodge him. Goatmom simply squinted her eyes at me and sighed in frustration.

"My child, I do not like it when you go down to the door even when I am by your side, but going there alone…it makes me afraid…afraid that you will break your promises…to me and to Sans…" Seeing that this conversation was starting to get Mom flustered up, I stood up and walked over to her to place a hand on her back.

"Mom…I told you that I'm here to stay, and stay I will. I don't want to leave you, and I don't want to go out there anymore. I've caused more than enough trouble here for tons of lifetimes.

"My child…please do not…your sweetness will make this old mother cry," she mocked to me, a smile picking up her lips and showing off her fangs.

"Let's be honest…if I wanted to leave, I would've already gone," I said, smiling as Toriel looked to me with warmth in her SOUL.

"You are a good child Frisk…oh, I only wish that your DETERMINATION did not make me worry so much." Breaking the hug, I finished the rest of my dinner. However, before finishing, I stashed away a few slices of bacon and a slice of the waffle in my inventory.

"I'm going to go to the flowers outside the house Mom, make sure they get the water they need for tonight."

"Be safe, child," she replied from the kitchen, cleaning the dishes as I walked out. Looking to the flower patch, I already saw Flowey waiting for me expectantly with "the goods".

* * *

I'd been grumbling all the way to Grillby's from the shortcut I took. I may not have wanted to be bothered, but I made good to ensure that people knew I was in a fickle mood. In all honesty, I probably should've seen it coming a mile away. I went to that door, pretty much every other day or week, and ended up having one–on–one convos with the kid instead of Toriel. I was supposed to not be focusing on the kid now that they'd promised to me that they wouldn't leave. They pushed the boundary, sure, but they never left the Ruins. So why did I care so much?

"Heya Sans," Doggo started, only to stop as soon as he saw that my sockets were dimmed and that I grumbled to myself. Upon stepping into the warmth of Grillby's, I made my way to the bar to see Papyrus was already there. Putting back on my smile, I kept walking up as Papyrus was telling a story on his training with the King for today.

"— AND SO THERE I WAS, CORNERED BY KING ASGORE, AND BEFORE I EVEN KNOW IT…" Pap turned to face me as I gave a nonchalant wave before sitting up to the bar.

"SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! YOU HAVEN'T SHOWN UP TO YOUR POST THE LAST THREE DAYS!" I smirked and shrugged.

"sorry bro, guessin' you're kinda 'bonely' then?" Pap's eyes grew to the size of Grillby's plate as the bartender facepalmed.

"I WILL IGNORE YOUR JAPE FOR THE MOMENT, AS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, YOUR AWESOME AND MERCIFUL BROTHER, HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OFF YOUR EXCESSIVE TAB WITH THE FAR LARGER PAY THAT I HAVE BEEN GETTING FROM MY DUTIES AS A ROYAL GUARDSMAN! IF ONLY TO MOTIVATE YOUR LAZINESS TO IMPROVE…" Posing triumphantly, my bro couldn't help but make me smile. Despite all the shit that kept happening, I felt that it was a nice change of pace to actually get to remember the Pap that I loved so much.

"cool. sorry i've been dodgin' work pap, and payin' that tab grillbz."

"Don't worry about it Sans. You're my number one customer aside from dogs. Your usual?"

"don't skip out on the ketchup grillbz. and put it on a tab. i promise i'll pay it this time." Grillby grumbled as Papyrus began to rant to me about the importance of paying my bills. As I listened, I took a look around to see the faces of all the Monsters, all blissfully unaware that death was living literally right next door to them. As I looked on, my smile began to fade, until it was a bit more like a frown. As it did, my focus on my brother's rant fell out of earshot for me as I thought on what could possibly be for this future, until he took me out of the trance I was in.

"SANS! SAAAAAANS! YOOHOO, BROTHER!" His incessant snapping of his fingers in my face finally brought me back to him.

"sorry bro…kinda blacked out there for a moment." Papyrus, not really convinced by my smile, pulled me away as Grillby brought back my grub. He pulled me outside and took a long look at me, likely CHECKing me.

"SANS, SOMETHING ELSE IS BOTHERING YOU, ISN'T IT?"

"nah bro. i promised i'd tell you if somethin' was bothering me last time we talked about something like this. good to know that you're a 'brotherer' for your favorite punmaster." Pap's rather dower mood on my problems was overshadowed by his disdain of my puns before he chucked me back inside Grillby's.

"BROTHER, I HAVE OTHER MATTERS TO ATTEND TO! JUST…DO WHAT YOU WISH FOR NOW, BUT TOMORROW, YOU SHALL BE PLACED BACK ON DUTY, SO SAYS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH!"

"ok bro," I called out to him as he ran off, likely to train. Taking a sigh of relief, I walked back up to the bar with Grillby looking at me.

"Does your brother know how much you actually worry?" he asked. Turning to him, my pupils darkened, leaving empty sockets as I took a bite of the burg that he set me up with.

"i've told you grillbz. i'm fine. there isn't anything that can really be done to make me…less worrisome." Grillby, not convinced, sighed in frustration.

"Sans, you can't keep pushing people away from you and your issues." Grillby then looked around before leaning in to whisper to me.

"It's an open secret since you got that job with Asgore that you've been worrying your skull about some big threat in the Ruins. Don't think we don't see you there every few days."

"i mean, i'm not wrong. i know exactly how this is gonna go. i can 'feel it in my bones'." Grillby merely shrugged at my attempt at a pun, going back to washing glasses.

"c'mon grillbz, gotta admit that was pretty punny. i got a 'skele'ton more where that came from. maybe you could spare a minute and relax; you've been working yourself to the 'bone'. c'mon, these are great puns. sure, they maybe corny, but it's like those pirates say, every one's a 'buck–aneer'." At that point, Grillby turned around, his flames flaring up and heating up the joint.

"is it hot or is it just me grillbz? you seem a bit ticked. in a second are you gonna be 'tocked'? or have I just 'rattled' you to the bone?" Grillby's mood didn't improve with my puns, and he simply pointed to the door.

"Eat your food and then get going. Those puns are terrible.

"guess you could say that they're bad to the…"

"Nope! Don't say it! If you wanna keep eatin' here, you're gonna have to stop testing your material on me!" I chuckled a bit, grabbing the burg and just stuffing it into my mouth.

"i'm at my happiest when i'm at my puniest grillby. you know how it is…can't really laugh without a pun that tickles the funny bone," I finished, winking as I stepped back out into the cold as Grillby yelled at me for the incessant punmaking. Aaaaaaahhh jokes…a good joke could never cease to bring out a genuine smile from me. Now, where could Papyrus have gone? Thinking for a moment, I got an idea, and immediately set off back to our former sentry posts out in Snowdin. If I knew Pap, he was gonna talk with Undyne for a bit before going back to Asgore's Castle.

* * *

"I got a joke for you," I said, eating a slice of bacon I had brought as I did.

"Please no," Flowey practically growled in reply. As much as he hated them, I could tell that it was something to get his mind off of murderous impulses. Even Sans–level humor tended to make him smile, even just a bit, if only at the absurdity.

"What's green and has wheels?" He took a moment to sigh as I smiled at the absurd punchline I was about to make. He looked back up to me with irritation on his face.

"Umm…I dunno, a green bike?"

"Grass, I lied about the wheels!" Flowey's face scrunched together in disgust as I chuckled at the joke.

"Idiot," he mumbled, earning a mock scoff from me for the "insult".

"Hey, c'mon man…these are good ones!"

"Your sense of humor is as bad as Smiley Trashbag's."

"That's the point," I replied with a smirk. Laying back on the golden flowers where I fell, I looked up to the sky in thought.

"You know I can tell you like them. Even if for their absurdity," I said, earning Flowey's glare and his irritated growl.

"That's stupid, and you know it Frisk."

"Big bad buttercup going to do anything about it?" I asked, curious. Flowey's demented grin overshadowed my view of the night sky as he rebutted me.

"I could take your SOUL and Toriel wouldn't be any the wiser."

"You'd have to FIGHT me Asriel, and I think, through all of this, we know we're both too tired to keep FIGHTing and killing each other." Flowey sighed in defeat, his expression returning to a neutral stance. We then just kind of sat in silence for a bit, just enjoying the silence. It was a beautiful evening. I kinda wished I could've been up there to experience it in full. Though, clearly something nagged at Flowey's mind to bring me out of my admiration.

"Hey Frisk, so…I need to ask…why do you bother with me?" I shrugged in response.

"I would think the answer's obvious Asriel." This apparently wasn't good enough for the flower, who looked over my face as I tried to relax again.

"But it isn't," he replied, his tone desperate for understanding. I sat up to look at the golden flower, whose puzzlement on his face was more than enough to clue me in that he wanted to talk about some important stuff, and not just relax and enjoy the evening.

"We've fought through tens, maybe hundreds of timelines. More than enough for me to build a bit of a grudge against your DETERMINATION…but you…you're just so adamant on being nice to me, despite everything I've done to you, to your friends. I mean, you treat me like a friend, even though I've done everything in my power to kill or hurt you. What's your reason, why are you so DETERMINED to help me?" Looking at the flower, I don't know if he'd really understand my reasoning. When I looked at him, I didn't see a murderous psychotic flower, but the fuzzy face of Asriel Dreemurr, who was in just as much pain as I could only imagine. I was a kid, and he was too, but I suppose both of us had to grow up real fast.

"Well…that's the thing…we've…been at this so long…to me, it was almost a friendly rivalry. A rivalry between friends. When I met you at first, I was a little bit hateful towards you. I didn't understand why myself…but when you were Asriel…every time you were Asriel, I got to know you a little better. You weren't just some psychopath…you were a kid, like me, who just got a little bit too curious for his own good." Flowey gave a disingenuous "pfft" in response, as he had heard this spiel plenty of times from me before, and not just in this timeline.

"Yeah, yeah. You've told me this before…you think that we're alike because we share a curiosity that's borderline dangerous for the world; that's why you choose to be so nice to me. That's not a good enough reason for me…give me something tangible to think about…on why you choose to reconcile with me, on why you choose to be so UNBEARABLY friendly! What makes you so DETERMINED to be my friend?" Looking up away from him for a bit, the gears in my head began to turn. While we have had this conversation before, I don't think it got nearly as deep as this, and certainly not on terms that we both could agree upon.

"Well…it's not that simple Flowey. Growing up, my dad always told me to be kind to others, for they will repay you in full eventually. You've proven otherwise so many times, it's not even funny."

"It makes me laugh that your philosophy has failed so much," Flowey replied, giving a chuckle as he did.

"But…I dunno…ever since I saw you as Asriel…just…something clicked. We may have our differences, and we may have had different experiences with the power of RESETing, but I…I don't actually know why I'm so nice to you to be honest. Maybe it's something about this timeline in particular, or maybe it's just something else that connects us aside from our experiences. I'm glad to have you as a friend, even if it's more superficial than anything else." Flowey remained silent for a moment before continuing on, switching the topic with another question.

"Do you remember what it was like?" I looked at him with a slight smile and a cocked eyebrow in confusion, leading Flowey to role his eyes in annoyance. "The Surface, I mean. Do you remember what it was like for you? Who your friends up there were?" Honestly, it wasn't a thought that'd really crossed my mind until this timeline. I wouldn't say I did…but…I also didn't forget them. There were vague recollections that I had of my life before the Underground…but what I remembered the most was my Dad. He was an upfront and honest man who loved his family, but was strangely cold and distant from everyone else. Despite his love for me, I didn't feel he really knew how to properly show it except very rarely when he was having an off day.

"Somewhat," I replied, bringing myself out of my haze of recollections. Flowey seemed to think for a moment before leaning in a little closer.

"Do you remember your family? How you fell down here at all?" How I fell…that I remembered. It happened every RESET.

"I remember how and why I fell down here. I was curious, and ran off from my family. We came to have a camping trip up here, something that my Dad told me was how his family liked to spend time together. It was my first camping trip too. I wandered off and fell down by complete accident…didn't see the hole in the ground." Flowey was about to ask another question before I continued.

"As I told you…I somewhat remember…it's all a little vague, but I'll say this…my Dad is who I remember most. Good man, good father…always wanting to do the right thing…but also…cold and distant, and wanting to succeed in everything he did. I don't remember much about my Mom, but my Dad was always good at giving advice."

"Like what? Something simple like 'be friends with everybody'?" Flowey asked, almost mockingly.

"Actually," I started, earning Flowey's full attention to the details, "He was good at giving good advice on how to succeed in life…he didn't have a whole lot of friends, so he didn't really give advice on how to be happy with friends. That was just something I kinda learned myself…" My face scrunched in thought as I brought up some old advice from my Dad. It was simple, but was also profound in the way that it didn't really need much dumbing down or explanation.

"'This world isn't doesn't show KINDNESS or MERCY to nice guys. It's always better to look out for number one: you. Just remember to smile to those close to you as you do.' In a way, he kinda sounds like you Asriel…just less homicidal." Flowey simply thought for a moment as I recollected on the past, looking back up to the night sky. He was fascinated by my Dad. I could tell…maybe he'd ask more, and I'd be happy to divulge a bit more. However, talking about him, and the way that I'd never really see him again was a little heartbreaking. It was Flowey's next question though that really did it in for me.

"Tell me Frisk…does it make you happy, knowing you'll be down here forever?" I immediately recoiled at the question. I hadn't wanted to think about it, but despite my promises to Toriel and Sans, I had to admit that I'd gotten homesick. My Dad had probably been worrying himself silly for however long I'd been down here, and all I really knew as home anymore was here, with Goatmom. Everyone else down here in the Underground didn't know who I was but Sans and the Monsters of the Ruins, and I was happy with what I had, or…at least I thought I was.

"I'll…be honest…no…it doesn't. The thought actually kinda makes me a little scared." A glint of malicious glee showed in Flowey's eyes at my response, and I already knew the question he was about to ask. It was something that inevitably showed up in plenty of our conversations…how I could CONTINUE with my journey through the Underground.

"Then why not break your promise with Smiley Trashbag and leave the Underground?" I looked to Flowey with only an expression of hurt. That being said, I was hurting. I couldn't do right by the Monsters because I thought I'd done enough, and I couldn't do wrong to Toriel or to Sans because of the things I had done. As I thought a little harder on it, I never noticed the tears that had begun to well up as I poured myself out.

"You know why Flowey…I can't leave…not after what I've done. Now, before you ask another question…I'm happy I'm keeping my promise. I'm happy that Mom is here to protect me…but I'm not really happy with this Ending. But I made a promise, and I'm DETERMINED to keep it. My APPREHENSION comes from not knowing what comes next…" The flower simply looked away for a moment, contemplating another question he had in mind, thanks to my outpour. This one was probably the deepest one he'd asked me in a while though, and it caught me off guard.

"Well, since you've decided to stay down here, does that make you a Monster instead of a Human? I mean, only a Monster could actually stay down here forever…what does that make you Frisk?" Flowey's words stopped my thought process for a moment…he had a point. Because I had decided to stay behind, was I resigning myself to be a Monster? Was I giving up my humanity? As I thought more on it, my hands went to my head and I realized that the tears from the previous question he had asked me began to fall. I don't know why, but this question actually bothered me. It kinda scared me in the way that the existential dread of every RESET did. Was I becoming less Human with each RESET I had made? And was this the culmination of it, where I would become despaired enough to not want to leave it? It just…bothered me. I hiccupped every so often as I thought long and hard on the question, trying to form an answer, but I couldn't.

"I…I don't…" Flowey seemed to sense my distress at the question, and the curious gleam he had in his eyes disappeared; he knew he had started to press a little too far, just as I knew when I was pressing him a little too far as well. Despite his lack of compassion, he knew that I was pretty much the only one that understood him, and that ensuring that I was stable enough to keep him from going insane was beneficial for him to at least attempt some form of comfort. In the wake of my fit, he moved himself a little closer, a vine pressing itself on my shoulder softly, and with the comfort of an actual friend. This was something new, that brought my attention back to him, even with the rather insincere smile on his face. While I knew it was a dangerous situation, he knew better than to try and do anything. Besides…as much of a pain as the flower could be, I could see that glimpse of Asriel in his face. Knowing that I had potentially resigned myself to the fate of all Monsters filled me with apprehension, but also knowing that I had a friend in the most unlikely of people filled me with DETERMINATION. The SAVE point was made, and my imprint left behind, though as my sense of comfort returned…I saw something else.

Instead of Chara's name on the SAVE, like usual, I instead saw mine. Chara's would glitch in and out at random on the SAVE, like a badly–made videogame, but as I looked closer at the SAVE, I heard something else; it was very brief, lasting less than a second. It sounded something along the lines of a noise from dial–up internet. Catching me off guard, Flowey's vine pulled away as I jumped a bit at the sound. It was strange, but it stopped very abruptly. It was just…gone, like that. And I could see the disgust on Flowey's face at my sudden jumpiness.

"Jeez, was just tryin' to cheer you up a bit. No need to think I'm going to kill you or anything," he said with a snarky attitude, probably thinking that I was scared he was going to run me through with plenty of "friendliness pellets". Looking to him, I gave a quick smile before shaking my head.

"N-no man. It wasn't you. It was…something else. Something with my SAVE. Kinda spooked me…" Flowey tilted his head in confusion before we both turned to the entrance of the Ruins to hear Toriel's voice.

"Friiiiisk! Friiiiiiisk! Come back Home, my child! It is time for bed!" Looking to Flowey, I smiled at him, as he turned to me with neutrality in his expression. I stood back up and leaned down close to him with a smile, wiping away any remaining tears I had.

"Hey…thanks man…you're getting better with actually acting like a friend."

"Don't expect it often. You know I don't feel anything myself when I do that." I chuckled, knowing he was trying to deflect, and trying to make it seem like he didn't care. While he couldn't feel, he could still care.

"It's the fact you did that matters more to me Asriel. See you tomorrow? I'll bring some more food and some more tasteless jokes," I said. Flowey "shrugged" as best he could using his stem.

"Maybe. We'll see if I'm feeling like I want to talk."

"Well, maybe we don't have to talk about anything. We can just spend some time just basking in the sun…" Immediately, I heard Toriel's call again, closer than before. Looking to Flowey with a smile, I watched him give a small smile of his own before ducking back down beneath the earth. He was still an asshole, but at least Asriel was shining through more in Flowey. He couldn't feel, but he certainly was getting better at being civil.

* * *

Looking around for Frisk was a hassle. They did this every night for some reason. Coming out here, to the Ruins, to simply spend some time near those Golden Flowers. It was strange behavior for them to do, but I would not stop them if it made them happy to look up through the hole in the mountain with hope. Finally coming down the steps, I saw Frisk looking at the patch of flowers with a smile on their face, and cleared my throat as I stepped towards them.

"My child, you are giving me more exercise coming to search for you every night." They walked up and hugged me tightly, giving a slight sniffle.

"Yeah Mom?" they said, APPREHENSION in their voice. I looked down at them with concern in my eyes as I brought their head up. Had they been…crying?

"Frisk, honey…what is the matter?" I asked, hopeful that it wasn't something too serious.

"I-it's nothing Mom…was just thinking on some heavy stuff, was all."

"Is it of your past, child? Something having to do with the 'dark time' perhaps?" Knowing that Frisk's attempted genocidal rampage was a tough topic for them to discuss with me, I made it a goal to move on from it, and attempt to help them reconcile with their past should they need it.

"No Mom," they replied, clearly aware of what I was referencing. "It was just…it was a different thought that got me bothered."

"Do you wish to talk about it?" I asked, hoping that they would at least talk with me on the way Home. Thankfully, they had become more talkative of their own issues and problems, despite their generally merry mood.

"Well…I don't know if it's something that you can really help Mom. It was something a little more personal…about the Surface." Looking to them with a cocked brow, now I knew that this was something else. They rarely talked about their time on the Surface, and any time they talked with me about their adventures through time, they did not really remember much of the Surface aside from Monsters being happy.

"Well, I can at least try to help you feel a little better Frisk," I replied. The child turned to look up at me before sighing, knowing that I likely would not stop until I could at least make them feel a little better, even if for my sake.

"You're not wrong Mom…okay, so I was thinking on how long I've been down here. Looking back on it, it's been so long since I remember clearly what the surface was like. I recall bits and pieces, but I don't recall the whole thing. But…what really got to me was my Dad." This was new information to me. I did not know that Frisk had a father. They did not speak of such a person in their life, which only piqued my curiosity.

"Alright then," I said, turning the corner to Home and letting go of Frisk's hand so that they could use their hands to gesture around. Listening to him go on about their father was…interesting. It seemed that the child had a strange fondness for their father, yet…the man that they described seemed rather aloof to the idea of taking care of a child from what I could understand. Was their father even a fit parent if that were to be the case? I could not know…but from what Frisk told me, their father was caring and compassionate…just very bad at showing it. He was a great advisor of the perils of life, if not a little socially awkward. I could see where Frisk attained their maturity for their age, but they exhibited a far different personality from the man that was described to me. However, as they went into more detail…I saw cracks form in their happiness to divulge such information to me. Tears, I saw, streaming down their face again.

"I just," they sighed, "I know I want to stay with you…b-but…I also want to see the Surface again…get what I missed…I want to see Dad again." As they climbed into bed, I could hear them sniffle every so often, and watching their misery, I could not take it, and simply grabbed hold and hugged tight, despite the first few protests against it.

"So this was what was bothering you at the Flower Patch?" I heard a muffled "mmm hmm", somewhere between a sob and a sigh. I sighed myself in return as I embraced Frisk in order to try and comfort them.

"Sweetheart, I know that, one day, we shall be able to go free. If you would like, I could take you to see your father."

"It won't happen," they solemnly stated, earning a slight gasp from me, "From what Dad told me once, not a lot of people come here…it could be years before we leave."

"And if it takes that long, my child, then it shall take that long. But I promise you, as soon as we leave the Underground, I will take you to your father."

"But that scares me…what if, in order to do that, I have to break my promises to you and Sans?" they asked, "What if I'm the only one who can do that?" I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to best comfort them. However, before I could come up with a suitable statement, I felt them pull away.

"No…I wouldn't do that to you. You've already suffered enough heartbreak Mom. And Sans…I still don't think that Sans will trust me after what's happened. I'll hold you to that promise, just like you would for me." I smiled, seeing how my child had finally calmed after what I could only assume to be just another tough day.

"Remember to take it one day at a time Frisk. Enjoy the little moments that help you regain your innocence, and eventually, that pain you feel will become a dull throb." Smiling, I knelt down and kissed their forehead, wishing them good night before walking out of the room. Looking down the stairs to the "basement," I felt that I needed a word with Sans. Perhaps next time he would come to tell some jokes with me, we could talk. But, for now, I felt it would be best to let Frisk rest themselves. Their DETERMINATION faltered every day, and they needed all their strength to keep that DETERMINATION that I loved about them.

* * *

"Tink!" My pupils immediately lit up, and I sat up on my bed, looking around for the source of the noise. After a long day of punmaking and just trying to keep my mind off the kid, I had turned in far earlier for the night. Papyrus wasn't that impressed when I decided to head to sleep right after I talked with him and Undyne.

"Tink!" There it was again! Looking around the darkness of my room, I slowly stood up, grumbling as I did.

"pap, if that's you sleepwalkin', 'tibia' honest with you, you couldn't have chosen a worse time…" Opening the door to my room, I looked out into the hall, and saw no one out. Looking around, for a moment, I grumbled as I turned back to my room, ready to head back to sleep.

"Tink!" I immediately turned my head towards the source of the noise, which was the window. Another "tink", and I'd already had just about enough. While I didn't see any pebbles hitting the window, it was certainly a distinctly pebble–like sound hitting the window. Looking outside, I didn't see anything…not initially…but after a moment, I thought I saw something…odd out in the middle of the snow. It was just a…shape…a white shape with spindly little pieces of white coming off from what I assumed was where its arms would be. Another one was attached to what I could only assume was a hunched over head.

"the hell?" I could only ask to myself, looking down at this thing. At random intervals, I could see its shape more clearly as it looked like it would glitch in and out of existence. As I opened the window to grab a closer look at it, I saw its head perk up to me. It didn't have any eyes, but I could tell it was…staring…it stared right at me, looking into my SOUL before I heard it say one word, sounding like something from a computer text–to–speech device.

"D-d-d-dirty c-cheats." Black pits for eyes suddenly appeared for a split second as I watched the thing glitch out of existence, like a ghost. Slamming the window shut, I closed the blinds and turned around to see the thing, out of the corner of my eye, standing next to the twister of various materials I had, which began to spin rapidly as one of the spindly appendages reached out towards me. Summoning a Gaster Blaster, I aimed it at the tornado where the thing once stood, seeing it now gone. The tornado of objects was now continuing to spin, as it did prior to this RESET. Suffice to say, sleep wasn't something that I got for the rest of the night…my pupils blackened out as I tried to wrap my head around whatever I had just saw. Whatever that thing was…I doubted that would be the last I saw of it this timeline.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hey everyone. It's me...I know this took so long to do...I'm really bad with scheduling chapters, if you couldn't tell. Real life just kinda does that sometimes. I hope that this chapter is worth it for those of you following this story, and if the wait wasn't worth it, I do apologize again in advance.


	5. The Time for Talk

**Undertale: The Final Choice**  
 **Chapter 4: The Time for Talk**

* * *

"SANS! IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP! YOU MUST…" Papyrus didn't have the time to finish his wakeup call before I'd already opened the door, a grin on my face to hide the troubles from the previous night. I had thought it was as dream at first, but as hours had gone by, and the tornado of objects in my room had continued to spin, I was beginning to think that what I saw wasn't a dream. There was something else at play, but I didn't know what…I wasn't going to try and worry Pap though the way I had been the past few days though.

"'sup bro?" I asked, earning a surprised stare from the taller skeleton.

"MY, MY. UP AND READY FOR THE DAY ALREADY?! IF I DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER, I WOULD CALL YOU AN IMPOSTER…YOU AREN'T AN IMPOSTER, RIGHT?!" Shrugging, I gave a chuckle, hoping to at least brighten up Pap's demeanor with a good pun.

"that depends…if i'm an 'impasta', would that mean that the real sans is switching places with your spaghetti?" Papyrus' expression was one of disappointment, and he sighed with hefty amounts of exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose…it was always fun to see Pap's reactions to my puns.

"c'mon bro, you know you love it. you're smiling."

"YES, I KNOW! AND I HATE IT! REGARDLESS OF YOUR PUNS, HOWEVER, SINCE YOU ARE AWAKE AND READY TO START THE DAY, LET US ACTUALLY EAT FOR ONCE! I SHALL MAKE YOU A PLATE OF SPAGHETII PANCAKES!" I shrugged and pulled a bottle of ketchup from my coat.

"nah. you don't have to do anything. i'm all stocked on grub. so…asgore's today, right?"

"YES SANS, YOU BONEHEAD!" Immediately, Pap's eyes widened as I stifled a giggle, coughing and hacking in the process. "NOT! ONE! WORD!"

"sorry bro, guess that means it's a 'pun'–derful day out today," I replied, earning an obnoxiously loud groan from Papyrus.

"GO TO GRILLBY'S IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE PUNS ALL MORNING! I WOULD RATHER NOT SULY THE GOOD NATURE OF THIS MORNING WITH JESTS! I WOULD RATHER EAT SO THAT WE CAN MAKE IT TO HIS MAJESTY'S HOUSE!"

"way ahead of you bro." Papyrus' expression of surprise was something to behold as I took a VERY short shortcut to the kitchen to start making myself a pancake of my own. Some of Grillby's syrup infused into it would do the job. As I cooked, Papyrus looked at me with a rather puzzled expression as he walked down the stairs to peek into the kitchen.

"SANS…THIS IS VERY MUCH UNLIKE YOU, AND IT IS SCARING ME…ARE YOU CERTAIN YOU ARE FULLY AWAKE AND READY FOR THE DAY?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"nah bro…just takin' a bit of initiative today. you were right yesterday. i missed three days of work, and i don't think that you or asgore would really be appreciative of me shirking my duties a fourth time. 'tibia' honest, it'd come off as a little 'marrow–minded' to just do that to you." This time, Papyrus didn't take the time to smack me in the head with a bone. Not hard enough to do damage, but just enough for me to understand I was crossing some boundaries with the amount of puns. Though, it caught me off guard for a moment. My eye flashed, and my hand was put at the ready to make a motion to summon a gaster blaster. Though, realizing it was only Pap, I just turned and smiled, chuckling a bit.

"okay, okay…i get it. too much on the puns for now. i'll be a little quieter about 'em when i'm eating." Papyrus continued to look onwards at me, even as I turned back to my pancake which needed to be flipped and have the syrup infused into it. Grabbing the squeeze bottle that I had, I stuck the tip into the bubbling batter and gave a quick squeeze, resulting in a sickly sweet smell fumigating in the kitchen.

"so, how's undyne doing over by our post now. i, uh, kinda forgot to ask yesterday."

"MY GOODNESS BROTHER! WAKING UP EARLY, TAKING THE INITIATIVE, ASKING ABOUT MY FRIENDS?! WOWIE! I SUPPOSE THE ENCOURAGEMENT THAT I GAVE YOU YESTERDAY FINALLY GAVE YOU A KICK IN THE TAILBONE! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus took a brief moment to crack his knuckles and clear his throat before he continued on to tell me about Undyne and how she was doing at our old posts. He started doing so as I began eating my pancake, walking alongside him as we left the house to start walking to Asgore's castle.

"SO UNDYNE THINKS THAT SHE WILL FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO GUARD OUR POSTS. THIS IS BECAUSE SHE THINKS OUR POSTS ARE…BORING?! I COULDN'T IMAGINE SUCH A THING SINCE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAD ENSURED THAT THERE WOULD BE PUZZLES FOR WHEN WE GOT BORED AS WELL!"

"you assume that undyne likes puzzles to spend her time? That's a little 'bone'–headed if you ask me." Papyrus only scoffed at the notion that puzzles could even consider to bore Undyne, completely ignoring the fact that I'd just made a pun.

"NONSENSE! EVERYONE LOVES A GOOD PUZZLE, EVEN UNDYNE! IT'S JUST THAT SHE PREFERS THE ONES THAT…DON'T HAVE A PUZZLE TO THEM…HMM." I chuckled shrugged.

"don't sweat it bro. i'm sure she likes puzzles…just don't go expecting her to do 'em in her free time when she's, uh, bored. besides, pretty certain it's for another reason, and not that she doesn't like puzzles."

"WELL WHAT OTHER REASON COULD THERE BE?!" Papyrus practically screamed. "THERE CANNOT BE ANYTHING THAT COULD BORE HER ON OUR PATROL ROUTE!"

"maybe she doesn't like how quiet snowdin is? gotta admit bro, waterfall's a little louder than snowdin, and there's always something to find at the dump." Papyrus took a brief moment to stop and think for a moment. I'd stopped to let him think it through for as long as it took. About two minutes later, he shot back up and pointed a finger up.

"I MUST ADMIT…THE DUMP CERTAINLY HAS A LOT OF COOL THINGS LYING ABOUT. PERHAPS I SHOULD NOT JUDGE MY FRIEND FOR HER CHOICE OF BOREDOM. IT IS ONLY SOMETHING THAT SOMEONE AS GREAT AS I COULD ADMIT TO…"

"heh…whatever you say." After saying this, I made an abrupt left turn, which caused Papyrus to sputter a bit.

"shortcut pap. i'll meet you at asgore's." Hearing this though, he stopped sputtering and merely rolled his eyes before waving me off and sprinting down the path, leaving a cloud of snow in his shape behind. I merely snapped my boney fingers and stepped through the blue doorway to the Hall of Judgement. Looking around, I'd almost forgotten what it was like to be here; the crisp golden light radiating from the windows made it almost peaceful…until the flashes of black and white brought me back to good old memories. My shadow standing in the way of an even darker shadow with a slightly glowing red center…flashes of the gaster blasters, of shattering SOULS…of that MOMENT…that MOMENT where I'd gotten a glimpse back into the good of their humanity.

Was the kid really telling the truth that they'd keep to their promise? The specters of the past and what could potentially be the future continued to haunt me, and so long as I had those visions, those dark specters, haunting my vision day and night, I couldn't risk that chance. It'd been over a month since the kid had fallen down…yet…they still insisted that they'd changed for the better and were going to stay with Toriel. I had to admit, it was getting hard to keep an eye socket on that door to ensure that Frisk did not leave the Ruins, but I had to be sure…I had to be certain that what they said was true. It wasn't even the RESETS that scared me, but the constant nagging feeling that I was letting them get away with it. I hadn't cared so much since…

"Howdy Sans." The deep, yet pleasantly sweet voice of Asgore took me out of my haze, and I turned to him. He was looking far better for wear than I was, that's for sure, and he was the one carrying the burden of six dead kids on his back, as well as the hopes and dreams of an entire race.

"heya. it's been a while."

"Three days, my friend. It has been three days. Is something bothering you?" This was the question I was dreading. Asgore was too nice a guy to let me simply get away with lying. He had Papyrus' desire to do good, but far more observant and, in my opinion, far more persistent.

"yeah. but i'm not gonna throw you a 'bone'," I replied, my smile still remaining strong "not in the mood for it." Asgore simply gave a hefty breath through is nose and sat down next to me, his robes parting to show off the impressively pristine armor beneath it. I didn't even turn to him, my focus still on the shadows fading in and out of the hall.

"I won't tell Papyrus, if that's what you're afraid of," he said. I gave a look of relief to him in thanks, but it still didn't make me want to press him about it. "You do not need to bear whatever burdens you have alone."

"you know asgore, as much as i'd like to divulge my problems to you, y'know, since you're, uh, king and all, this is something that i really have to deal with alone." Asgore didn't seem to take no for an answer this time, and he sighed in frustration with my DETERMINATION to remain silent.

"Sans, if there is anything I have learned, it's that if there is something bothering you, it is best to tell someone…before someone gets hurt…"

"you mean like the queen?" I shot back, clearly trying to deflect the conversation that Asgore wanted to have.

"Yes…like…l-like my wife," he stuttered, "B-b-but that doesn't mean that you have to do the same thing I did…keeping your problems to yourself until the very end. When I talk to your brother about you, he seems concerned, and I don't want you to push him away. Now, you don't have to say anything to me, but could you at least entertain me with an idea of what's bothering you?" I grumbled and hid myself deeper into my hoodie, another vision of the kid's death replaying in my mind's eye as I tried to think hard about what he was asking. I had no real reason to hide anything from him except for the big spoilers. But…I didn't know. Maybe talking about it would do some good…certainly seemed to take some of it off my chest with Grillby, but Grillbz tended to be less liable to telling people dark secrets like that.

"alright man. you 'goat' me," I said, resigning the fact that it'd need to come out sooner or later. "let's start this off with a question that'll get ya thinking, ok?" Asgore's smile faltered a little as my sockets darkened, leaving no pupils to be seen.

"would you still consider yourself a good person, even if you've done or have thought of doing terrible things? is it in the capacity of someone who's hurt everyone they've ever met to change?" Asgore merely chuckled, his smile returning, though now filled with nervousness.

"Golly…I don't think that I'm the right kind of person to answer this question." I sighed, already having known beforehand that he wouldn't be the kind of person to answer that with objectivity. But I had to press on.

"asgore, you and i both know that…but there was someone in my life, who's done bad so many times, and did something…almost inexcusable. they were a MONSTER in the metaphorical sense." Asgore's eyes seemed to widen at this, muttering an "Oh god," as he knew what I meant. However, he asked to confirm it for himself.

"Sans…what do you mean?"

"i've known someone who's killed," I replied darkly, "not just one person, and certainly not just the bad…but many good people too…multiple times. after a while though, they just kinda…stopped. after i confronted 'em on it, they seemed to have a…change in heart? they told me that it was the past, and they were trying to put it behind 'em. i dunno though, maybe i'm getting rusty at judging people's characters, but…i still feel like they're gonna go back on that promise. they seem so sincere about turning a new leaf, but i'm not about to go out on a 'tree'–limb and take their word for it. not when there's still that risk that they'll hurt good people again." I winked at the pun, chuckling to myself as I saw the last battle in this hall play out before me. Shadows of gaster blasters dancing across the walls and Frisk's shadow weaving in and out of the way. The king seemed to think long and hard on what I'd told him. I couldn't say that it was a human that was bothering me, but I certainly said what I needed to. It felt kinda good finally getting some of that baggage off my chest, I could tell as much for sure, since I'd come out of hiding in my hoodie.

"Sans. I know I'm not the kind of person who really has any right to say, but…I don't think it's fair to assume the worst in people. Like your brother, I like to hope that there is good in everyone, and that we can all eventually come to an agreement. But, how long has this been bothering you for?"

"oh, y'know. it's, uh, kinda one of those long–term grudges. years, really. it's only really caught up with me in the last few months though," I replied honestly. It was true. It hadn't really bothered me before with all the RESETS. But, as soon as they started getting a little too curious for their own good, they crossed a line with me.

"Well…was there a good person underneath all of that? One that used to be a friend?" Asgore asked. It was a suspiciously accurate question to ask. And I turned to him with a cocked brow.

"something tells me y'know a little more 'bout this than you're letting on," I questioned. Looking at Asgore's eyes was all that I needed to know. He had a little sense of déjà vu, like everyone else, after a RESET. And, in a way, I think he could sympathize a lot more than he was letting on.

"Well…yes, and no. I certainly can understand what you mean. Maybe try talking with them? Relaxed, you know? Try to see where they're coming from, and understand why they'd do something so awful for their SOUL." I looked away for a moment, trying to think on what to do with Asgore's advice. In that moment, however, I heard what sounded like crashing coming from outside the hall, and my smile returned. Pap'd finally arrived. Stepping in through the hall, his eyes beamed as he ran up, panting hard, and finding it difficult to breathe.

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS…HAS MADE IT…IN…FIVE…MINUTES…SANS…SANS, I'M FALLING OVER!" Papyrus then fell flat on his face onto the gilded floor, while I chuckled.

"outa breath? don't worry. it's 'wh–easy' to to just get back up and get to work, isn't it?" Papyrus merely groaned and pointed at me from the ground.

"EASY FOR…YOU TO SAY…BROTHER…YOU…TOOK…A SHORTCUT!"

"c'mon bro. didn't mean to 'wind' you up." While Asgore chuckled at the clever wordplay, Papyrus merely sighed in defeat, clearly too tired to 'pun'ish me.

"Come Papyrus. I'll set you some tea," Asgore replied, walking off. Asgore, as he picked up Papyrus, took one look at me before turning away. The look he gave me was one of…advise. I got all I needed out of that one look, and as I saw Papyrus turn the corner, I turned the corner as well and went to take a shortcut.

* * *

"Hmm…cinnamon, butterscotch, snails, a loaf of bread, some milk, pancake mix, and some vegetables. Oh dear, I hope that they have everything I need today…I would rather not travel all the way to New Home," I said to myself, looking around from underneath a darkened cloak down the aisles. Today was shopping day, and Frisk could not survive on snails alone, so I asked what they liked to eat. They could not necessarily remember, so I was going on a shopping trip to find some food worth cooking for the human. After all, a human child needed to be fed.

"Excuse me, do you need help with something?" the shopkeeper asked. I turned and cleared my throat.

"Would you happen to have any of the items on this list? The last time I was here, you at least had some pancake mix." I handed the vendor the list with everything that I needed on it. Her bunny–like face scrunched as she tried to think on what she had in stock.

"We have some cinnamon that we use to make our cinnamon bunnies with, some butterscotch that we've had in stock for a while now, and milk. Pancake mix and bread is gonna be tougher to find, and veggies don't grow out here in Snowdin. For snails…I think they like to hang out in the Ruins…but that's generally a dangerous place to go. Sorry ma'am." I took the list back and gave a chuckle, looking to her with a kind smile.

"Oh, that is quite alright. It just means that my child will have to wait a little longer on something to eat, but I will make due." Looking up in thought, my face reflexively scrunched at the thought of Frisk starving back Home. The thought sent a chill down my spine as I started going through the aisles, looking for the butterscotch, cinnamon, and milk. While the first two items were easy to find — the cinnamon at the bakery section and the butterscotch handed to me by the vendor — milk would be a little tougher. Eventually, after a bit of searching, I sighed in frustration, realizing that people must have gotten most of the milk already.

"heya," I Sans say from behind me. I turned around to see him looking at a card that he had picked out from a handmade postcards aisle.

"Good day Sans," I said aloofly, "What are you doing here? Does your brother not do most of the shopping?"

"nah. not since he's been workin' with the king more often. he practically lives with asgore now." Hearing HIS name made my right eye twitch. It was a name that I absolutely hated hearing now, especially with Frisk safely in my care.

"hey, relax. it's 'ice' to see you again." Seeing Sans' childish wink at the pun that he had just told made me stifle a giggle before he set the card back down.

"It is 'snow' problem, hee hee hee." His smile seemed to widen at the pun, and for a moment, I saw his eye flash and a jug of milk appear in his hand.

"i'd like to keep 'milking' you for good material, but, uh, i think it's time we talk about somethin' important," he stated, his tone getting serious again; I knew exactly what he was exactly speaking of. While I felt that Sans would not dare to harm Frisk physically, I felt that his constant watch over us was beginning to create emotional damage with them.

"Oh? And would this something have to do with my child?" Sans rubbed the back of his head and looked away for a moment.

"Do not take me for a fool, Sans the Skeleton. I see how they behave when you are near. Even if we are just telling jokes through the Door, I see how they tense, even when I am around to protect them." I glared down at the skeleton before sighing.

"let's take a walk. i'll buy the milk for ya." My eyes widened in surprise at Sans' generosity as he walked up to the counter and purchased the jug of milk. I came soon after and finished my purchase — around 50G — and followed the skeleton outside.

"so…i think it's time the kid and i had a chat. we don't really see eye–to–eyesocket anymore, and i think it's buggin' both of you." I huffed in response, resulting in a scoff.

"you sayin' you don't want me to just have a chat?"

"I am saying that you should choose your words carefully. It is clear to me that you and Frisk still have issues, do you not?"

"and that's why this is important." I stopped and turned to him, and looking at his smile beginning to falter made my aloofness soften.

"look…i don't expect you to forgive me for any impressions i've given to the kiddo, but it's been over a month since they've fallen into the underground. i think i owe it to 'em as an old buddy to at least try and make amends, to understand why they did it."

"The BAD Route?" I asked, wanting to clarify for my own sake that Sans was indeed wanting to talk about such a difficult subject for them. He sighed, and the pupils in his eye sockets darkened to blackened pits for a moment.

"yeah…" No jokes, no puns, nothing. This was clearly bothering Sans just as much as it was bothering my child, and I could honestly pity them both for their pasts. Sans was so used to not caring from what I had seen, and now that he knew what he…no…we had to loose, I don't think it ever sat well with him. He was lazy and cheerful, and did not like it when the tables turned so drastically.

"Sans, do you remember your promise? The one that you had made to me through the Door?"

"yeah…"

"If I am to let you have a one–on–one talk with my child on the BAD Route, then I need you to make it again.

"oh c'mon tori. i told you that i don't do well makin' promises."

"Frisk has no problem making such promises to me or to you that would mean they would stay trapped down here in the Underground. I feel that you have no problem making such promises either, especially for close friends and family."

"you really don't know me then, lady."

"Then I suppose that you will not have your talk with Frisk." Sans stopped at this, the woods around us almost closing in as he thought long and hard. Minutes passed, and he still said nothing. Turning to get a better look, I saw that he was mumbling a little to himself, an eye of cyan and yellow almost blazing within his left socket. His hand was shaking, clearly troubled by the decision he had to make. Had I upset him badly? I hoped not, yet he would certainly be deserving of being upset from his experiences in the BAD Route. He then sighed deeply and looked up to me with pleading in his eyes.

"alright…but if i make a promise, i'm gonna do it right. okay? That means that, if i'm makin' a promise, that you're gonna make one too." I smiled in understanding and nodded in agreement.

"Of course. What do you want me to promise?" Sans sighed and took his hands out of his pockets, pulling back his hood and leaving them to his side. He then raised his hand up and cleared his throat.

"i'm not gonna just promise tori. i'm gonna swear it, on my life, on my bro's happiness, on your safety, and on whatever god designed this world. i swear…oh god…i swear to watch over Frisk like a hawk: to keep an eyesocket out for them when trouble comes, to keep them safe from harm, and to do right by you, as your friend, in assuming the best for now." I stood in awe as Sans' hand lowered back down, and a cool breath escaped his teeth.

"alright tori, your turn…'cause i promised to protect the good kid you know, i need you to swear to me that you'll do right by me and the underground. if they start goin' for any monster…any at all…i need you to swear on the good kid you know…i need you to swear by our friendship…i need you to swear by your duty to monsterkind, that whatever happens, if they get the intent to kill…that you'll do what's necessary…and bury them six feet under…over, and over, and over again until they decide to never come back." I looked at Sans in horror, his eyesockets having darkened yet again.

"Sans, you know I would never hurt an innocent…"

"lady, you need to get it through your head!" he snapped, causing me to startle and stumble back in fear, "i don't swear on anything! i don't like makin' promises, but i don't swear on anything like that! this is the first time i've ever had to swear on something for the sake of others, and i don't need you makin' me feel like an IDIOT 'cause you can't bring yourself to do what needs to be done if it needs to be done!" I was shocked, seeing Sans this worked up over…anything! From the way he talked, the way he sounded…he was always cool and collected…now, he was yelling and screaming at me, tears running past his sockets and onto the snowy ground below.

"i haven't had to care so much about anything, ever! and now, i feel like the world's gonna go to shit sometime in the next second, and that i'm gonna wake up in bed again, and pap and i are gonna be guarding snowdin from a sicko that enjoys bad punchlines! please tori, if there is something that i need you to put your morals aside for, if not for the others' sakes, then for MY sake, it's this! it's this…please…don't make me feel like an idiot for swearing to do this for you…swear you'll do this for me…" Tears fell from the skeleton's eyes as his knees wobbled. While he wasn't bawling like a child, I could see him spasming every so often as he tried to start regaining control over himself, over his pain.

"swear on our friendship, and for the good of all monsters AND humans, and to whatever almighty force makes SAVES, LOADS, and RESETS a thing…swear to me that you'll do what needs to be done if the kid decides to go for GENOCIDE…please…" Sans finally collapsed to his knees, panting heavily from his outburst, his eyesockets still darkened and dripping tears onto the snow below him. I was…astonished. I was astonished that Sans cared so deeply about this, that he would be willing to sacrifice anything and everything…all for the safety of his friends. He may have acted lazy, but now I had gotten to see the real skeleton hiding in the closet: afraid of the future, afraid of my child…no…afraid of what they could become. From what I could see, I saw a broken Monster that needed the comfort in knowing that, should things go wrong, that his friends could keep it from going any further. Kneeling down, I placed a paw to wipe away the tears.

"Sans…"

"swear it…" Looking around to make sure no one was watching, I pulled off my hood and lifted Sans' chin up.

"Sans the Skeleton…I, Toriel, swear upon not only our friendship, but upon my love for Frisk and upon my former duties as Queen of the Underground, to do what is necessary should the time come…I will…I will…" Sans was now standing back up, his smile gone, replaced with an expression of neutrality, his eyes still blackened out as he waited for me to finish.

"I will kill Frisk, and stop any GENOCIDE before it happens…you have my word, my promise…I swear it." Color seemed to flood back into Sans' eyes, and his smile grew as he began to chuckle. The chuckle turned into a laugh as I watched the skeleton collapse back down, holding his head in his hands as he laughed loudly, as though he had just heard the best joke in years.

"oh…oh man…heh heh heh heh…i just…I can't believe it…after so long of not carin', and then…and then…heh heh heh heh heh…tori…thanks…you just made a skeleton cry today." I smiled warmly, though still with a little hurt in my eyes that I had made Sans care so much about this in the first place.

"Shall we go now then?" Sans stood back up, knees wobbly as he sighed.

"nah…i…i need to get some sleep. 'c' ya, wouldn't wanna 'b' ya," Sans jested, causing me to chuckle as he made the letters "c" and "b" with his fingers.

"Farewell Sans. I shall see you later then?" I called out as he began to walk back towards Snowdin.

"i'll stop by for dinner…and…hey…it IS alright to have a chat with them, right?"

"Of course," I reassured, still not entirely certain myself that things would go well. But, seeing Sans' smile only assured me that things were likely going to be peaceful.

"welp…then i best go get some shuteye, grab some 'z's." He then began walking away before turning around and giving me a wink. I smiled and placed the hood back over my head before walking back towards the door. However, looking to my hands, I looked for the jug of milk that Sans had so courteously bought for me. I saw a note on the ground instead, written rather lazily.

"don't worry about those groceries. they took a shortcut." Smiling, I began walking towards the door again…though…with how quiet it now seemed, I almost felt that something was wrong…that…something was watching me from shadows I could not see. The feeling quickly dissipated, however, as I suddenly felt a need to return HOME as quickly as possible. Something wasn't…wrong, per se…it was just a general feeling that I needed to return as quickly as possible to see my child.

* * *

Ugh…another restless sleep. The flashes of static in my vision whenever I was about to nod off kept on keeping me from getting a proper rest. It was as though I was in a fog, and there was something always beyond my vision; it wasn't that far from the truth to be honest…this timeline had deviated so much already, that it was impossible for me to even think on what the future was going to be like, let alone monitor it. Maybe the anomalies just suddenly…ending…maybe that wasn't the kid's fault. Maybe there was something else at play. Did it have something to do with that figure I saw last night? Or…perhaps it was something else. Regardless of what it was, I had work to do: a promise to keep, and a friend to make some amends with. Sitting up from bed, I took a look around for my hoodie and slippers. Oddly enough, however, they weren't where I left them last. Instead of being on the floor, preferably by the treadmill I never used, they were sitting in the tornado of objects. It was an odd place for them to have been, but it wasn't something I thought impossible. Maybe I just threw them off a little too close to it. As they spun around, I lunged out to grab the hoodie, only getting a slap to the face by the cloth before grabbing it and pulling it from the gravitational pull of the anomaly. Now, the slippers, those were gonna be harder…they were near the top of the tornado of objects, where the dog was chewing on 'em.

"heh. this is gonna be a 'slippery' slope." I chuckled at the pun I had made to myself, and I could almost feel Papy's SOUL cringe at the awfulness of it from New Home. Cracking my knuckles, I set to work, and jumped right into it. In a flash second, my hand shot out and grabbed the slippers from the dog; however, it wouldn't let go, and instead of me just getting out unscathed with the slippers, I was flung into the wall…hard. The dog ran off, leaving the slippers behind, but I groaned in pain as I could only assume my HP to have dropped by only a little bit.

"o u c h…" I moaned, pulling myself off the ground and setting on my slippers. I was about to leave, when I got a call on my phone. Grabbing the phone from my sweater, I started with a pun, knowing exactly who it was by the ringtone.

"ayy, great to hear from ya. i thought we had a 'connection'." The "NGAHHH" that erupted from the other end already told me that she wasn't in a joking mood.

"alright, alright. 'salmon's' gotta stop me sometime, heh heh heh."

"Alright, listen up punk! I know you didn't go back to your post ALL DAY! You showed up this morning, AND THEN JUST RAN OFF!"

"yup," I responded, resulting in her stunned silence for a moment, before she started blaring at me again.

"THEN WHAT DID YOU DO, WHERE'D YOU GO?!"

"somewhere,"

"Where?!"

"under." It took all of my willpower to keep from ruining the joke with an early laugh. But when she said it, it took me by surprise I managed to get her with it.

"UNDERWHERE?!" I lost it. The oldest pun in the book, and she managed to fall for it.

"DAMN IT SANS! WHERE WERE YOU TODAY?!" After regaining myself, I started again, walking out the door of my room and down the stairs as I did.

"alright, alright. i get it. 'enough with the crappy puns,' yadda, yadda. i had an issue to take care of back here in snowdin, and after that, i took a nap. it's 'snow' prob."

"NGAHHH! But it IS your problem!" Not even acknowledging the pun? It was clearly serious. "ASGORE called me while I was patrolling a while ago, and told me that YOU hadn't come back! HE SAID PAPYRUS WAS WORRIED SICK WHEN HE DIDN'T SEE YOU!" Shoot! I'd just remembered that Papyrus thought I was ready to work today! When he couldn't find me, he probably…oh no…

"aww jeez…is pap there? is he doin' a cooking lesson with ya?"

"NOPE! He missed his cooking lesson today because he was worried about you, and just about turned all of New Home upside down looking for ya! Fuhuhuhuh!" Yup…that sounded a lot like Pap alright.

"alright…well…next you see him, can you tell him that i'm getting something real important done?"

"I can't do that Sans." Now I was puzzled.

"well, why not?"

"'Cause he just ran past my house…I'm gonna follow him to you, and kick your ass for making him worry so much! SEE YOU IN A HOT SECOND, PUNK!" Immediately, the connection was lost, and my pupils shrunk as I realized that I was only probably seconds away from Papy's embrace and stern talking to. As much as I loved my cool bro, I had to get this done. Toriel was probably fixing dinner or probably already eating, given the time, which meant that I was either going to be fashionably early or fashionably late. Opening the door and looking out, I saw a cloud of snow coming from the left, about a few hundred meters out: Papyrus. I could already hear the "NYEH HEH HEHING," all the way from here, which meant only seconds until impact for me.

Getting out the door and walking behind the house, I took a "shortcut" into the woods near the Door. Walking out from behind a tree, I looked to see Pap's gate, and started walking down towards the Ruins with a hefty sigh. I was gonna get Papyrus into tip–top shape with him running everywhere like that…or maybe he'd make me get into that kind of shape. Stepping up to the door, I gave a knock in the hopes that Tori had been waiting here as soon as she cooked some dinner.

"knock, knock," I called out. After about a minute of waiting, I knocked again.

"knock, knock…" Silence followed again. Immediately, I felt the color drain from my eyes, and I summoned a gaster blaster. I knocked one last time…just once. I didn't even crack a joke as I waited for something to happen. Hearing nothing, my hand opened, and the gaster blaster began to charge.

"tori?!" I yelled loudly, hoping that she would hear me through the door. I tried to push it open, but the door wouldn't budge. My worst fear had already come to pass, and after I'd just sworn to do right by her…how could I let this happen?! How could I let it go this…

"Knock, knock," I heard. I almost collapsed into a pile on the ground as I dissipated the attack.

"who's there?" I asked, relief apparent in my voice.

"Who." Knowing where this joke was going, I braced myself.

"Who, who?"

"I did not know that owls could knock on doors. Hee hee hee." I chuckled before admitting to my terror.

"you had me goin' for a moment, old lady…i thought that you were dead…i thought…whoooooooaaaaa boy…hey, uh, knock knock."

"Who is there?" the voice answered.

"comic."

"Comic who?"

"comic sans, who else?" I heard her howl with laughter at that one. Even though she heard it probably hundreds of times, it still got her good every time. As the laughter died down, the door opened…but instead of seeing Toriel, I was only greeted with darkness. Something was wrong. Looking inside, I saw no one there; no one was behind the door, and as soon as I stepped in, gaster blaster following behind, I heard the door slam shut, and heard Toriel's howling laughter turn darker and far more sociopathic. I looked down to see the culprit, my eyes darkening and widening in terror at what likely happened.

"You IDIOT! You actually fell for that!" The damned flower then started to cackle as he ducked beneath the ground as I blasted where he used to be in an attempt to get the weed. Running over to where he once was, I started to try and dig through the ground, I panicked as the worst–case scenarios went through my mind: Frisk dead, Toriel dust…Flowey back in control…my pupils returned for a moment as the room flashed from color to black and white. Looking around, I couldn't see anything that told me where the little pest had gone. No outlines, no SOUL glowing in the darkness, nothing.

"Oh lighten up," he said, his voice echoing in the shadows as I summoned a few more blasters, "It's not like that old hag DIDN'T have it coming, making promises she COULDN'T KEEP!" I turned to the weed, who was sitting in front of the door, my eyes blackened and my hands freed from my pockets as his face shifted to that of Toriel's — a mockery of what was once alive…a mockery of a good friend who liked bad jokes, now nothing but dust.

"Knock, knock. Who's there? Smiley; Smiley who? A Smiley Trashbag that's… E…" Looking at the flower, whose white eyes and carved mouth only served to infuriate me further, I decided to FIGHT. My eye flashed a brief cyan, and immediately, a bed of bones erupted from beneath the flower…but the attack missed. In an instant, vines wrapped around me, and held me in place. Trying to use the gaster blasters, I looked around in a panic to see that they were held in place by the vines as well. Flowey extended himself over to me from the darkness and into the light where I was held, his stem slithering like a snake toying with its prey. Thinking on what just happened…I couldn't think of any less awful way to go, and my sockets darkened again as my smile began to falter.

"Golly, you aren't smiling? You must REALLY wanna hurt me…I don't think that THEY would be too happy about you hurting lil' old me." Hearing about what Frisk would think made me only want to struggle, for their sake. It was a futile effort though, as Flowey's vines tightened their grip on me.

"Go ahead, cry out into the darkness; call for THEM!" Flowey's face than reshaped itself to simply be as human–like as possible.

"Call for the human… U…" I stayed quiet…I accepted my fate, and what this vindictive, spiteful weed would do to me. I couldn't really bother to care now. I chose to skip whatever turn I had.

"Aww, that's too bad. No one is going to get to see you DIE…though…now that I think about it, I think that there's something WORSE I can do to you!" A vine lowered itself to the flower's chin as he thought on what possible way he could torture me.

"Maybe I'll just keep you alive after all…make you watch as I tell Papyrus all the awful things that you let me do, and the person who KILLED HIM was really someone you called a FRIEND! Heh heh! Golly, wouldn't that be something fun to share?!" he asked, his face contorting to enjoyment of my misery. My eyes immediately lit up in anger at his attempts to spite me, and I turned my head to him the best I could, my left eye blazing with fury. I could care less if I died…the kid was dead, and so was Toriel…Papyrus was the only one I could count on to do anything now if I was to die.

"if you lay ONE vine on my bro, you're gonna need more than DETERMINATION or a SOUL to pop up from the mulch pile i'll make out of you…" Flowey's grin only turned monstrous as he giggled in glee.

"Ooooohhh, such big words from such a pudgy waste of space! What're you gonna do? Are you gonna make me kill myself with bad puns?! Hah hah hah hah! That's RICH!" Flowey's face returned to normal, an almost innocent, cheery smile replacing the terrible, sick faces he was pulling earlier.

"I WAS willing to SPARE you and take you on a little trip down bad memory lane, but you know what? I'm sick at seeing that STUPID smile! Hee hee hee…here, let's just use ONE. After all, only one good hit will turn you t T!" One of his bullets, which looked like an innocent seed, manifested in front of the weed's face, which slowly began to melt, leaving only darkness underneath, and revealing only three slashes of white: two eyes, and a wide smile. Slowly, the bullet edged its way towards my face as the flower cackled maniacally. However, something happened that sent the seed flying away before it even made contact. My darkened sockets had light return to them again and I turned from death itself to what had just saved my skin…if I had any. My faltering smile only widened as I realized who it was that'd just saved me.

From the darkness, a stick flew and hit the seed away. Flowey's expression returned to normalcy, and he turned in confusion to see where the stick came from.

"Let him go!" I heard Frisk's relieving voice break through the darkness before Flowey…complied? It wasn't instant. The flower turned to me, rage in his eyes, before dropping me to the ground. I couldn't have been happier to hear Frisk's voice in any capacity, nor could I have wanted to end that flower any more than I could have at that precise moment…but I held myself back. The kid had dealt with this creep before, and I knew that they could probably do it again if they wanted, especially seeing as they were still alive. My smile only grew as my thought process made me relieved to think that, if the kid was alive, so was Toriel.

"You IDIOT! I had this TRESPASSING, PROMISE BREAKING trashbag right where I wanted him! We could've ENDED all that fear of what he'd do if YOU slipped up!" Flowey's anger wasn't murderous, but more like a child throwing a tantrum now. It was interesting to watch as the flower had a conversation with Frisk's shadow, standing where the other door was.

"He wasn't trespassing…look, we'll talk about this later," they said, keeping their voice calm and collected. Flowey, however, wasn't having it, and before I could summon any gaster blasters, the vines were wrapped around me again. My smile turned to shock as I tried to pull them off.

"But…but Frisk! He! Broke! His! E!" he pleaded, resulting in probably the most surprising outburst from Frisk about this creep.

"Asriel!" I watched Flowey reflexively cringe at the name, before making a hissing sound in indignation against them, their face carving itself open to intimidate them. Their shadow didn't move at all in the slightest, showing no fear or APPREHENSION towards them. Huh…so it WAS true…this was the dead prince all along. I'd suspected it in each timeline I met Flowey, but…I never really could imagine it being the case. Asriel was such a nice kid, and Flowey was a vindictive, hateful, evil little weed. Now that I'd heard it for myself though, I couldn't have pitied the kid even more than I already did from what I knew. How long had he been like this?

"Asriel…please…we'll talk later about it…right now, I have a friend to talk with." Flowey stood still for a second, my hand slowly moving to set up a gaster blaster in case he made a move. I could've killed him right there…but…the kid seemed to know what they were doing…and whatever they were trying to do, it worked. Flowey's vines unwrapped from me and the weed simply ducked back underground without a word. I could swear I almost saw hurt on his face as he went back down, the room regaining its color again and Frisk's SOUL disappearing back into the darkness.

"Sans!" I turned to the shadow as it walked out from the darkness. The smile of relief on my face couldn't have been more apparent.

"kid, thank god! i thought that…" I stopped in the middle of my sentence as I took the time to see who just stepped in front of me. While the purple coat, blue shirt, and short brown hair were dead giveaways to who I KNEW it was…looking at them, I could see that it wasn't human. They looked FAR from human, actually. Instead of a human child, I saw a Boss–Monster kid.

Their hair was still there, which sat up on their head, sticking a little out of place amongst the white fur, but from it extended long, floppy ears. While they had the face of a young Boss Monster, snout and all, instead of a warm smile like Toriel's or Asgore's, a blank, neutral expression was plastered on…that was Frisk's expression alright. And just like both of them, their hands…err…paws were covered in white fur; while I could assume the same was said for their feat, I couldn't tell because of the brown shoes they had on. This wasn't a human kid. It sounded like them, it looked a lot like them, and they certainly acted like them, but…this couldn't be Frisk, could it? If it wasn't, where were they?!

* * *

 **Author's Note (More like a story in between the chapters):** Hey again everybody! I know, exciting right?! Another chapter within the week; I think I can get the hang of this kind of schedule if I'm keeping it consistent and keeping myself entertained by the idea of writing this. I'll be honest, I enjoyed writing this chapter a LOT! Favorite scenes in particular are the ones between Sans and Toriel and Sans and Flowey. Those two, by far, were the most entertaining to write, and I think the closest I've come to doing something relatively close to growth between these characters.

Now, while I think making Sans care a bit more than what we're used to is a little risky, I think it serves as an important conflict that really should be followed a little more. This Sans is a little more emotionally driven this Timeline, and I think it's because, to me, I think that Sans, reacting logically, would believe that there's no a reason to not care when he now knows that there's everything left to loose. Furthermore, I think it's also important to explore Flowey. In the last chapter, I think we explored a nice part of Flowey and how he is growing himself (metaphorically, not literally), but this chapter shows that Flowey is still an asshole that still needs to be reigned in. This isn't Underfell, where we have a pacifist Flowey the Flower. This is Undertale, where Flowey is a spiteful, vindictive, hateful little shit, but can still be corrected (at least in my mind).

Regardless, I think I need to explain a bit on the end of this chapter. Yes...I do mean the last scene that may be a bit confusing to some. A good cliffhanger (hopefully) to keep people interested, and one that I think that people should know right off the bat. Yes, this is Frisk; Final Choice Frisk has just become a Monster in the literal sense. Now, before I'm hung on a pike, hear me out; I **LOVE** transformation stories. I think they're a unique subset of fanfiction that really gives you a creative flow to think on how the transformation happens, yet...strangely...out of all of the Undertale fanfics I've seen, I don't think I've actually stumbled across too many that actually have the Protagonist (Frisk) actually becoming a Monster (not in the metaphorical sense, but in the literal sense). While the idea is entertained in at least one fanfiction I've read, it's...not really explored upon in a way that makes it feel unique and very...Undertale–ish. Usually, such ideas aren't explored in fanfiction because it can turn out cringey or otherwise badly written for the most part. I still enjoy a lot of them, cringe and all, but I think that we can do better as writers.

For those of you who're looking to do transformation stories, I warn you with this sound advice... **DON'T WRIT Y**! It makes the story almost unreadable because of this, and makes any credibility you have as a writer **T A N K**. Make good storytelling that incorporates the transformation as an obstacle or even a means for the main plot to go forwarsd; this is to incite character growth (literally and figuratively in some cases), and as a means to progress the story; **DON'T** have it be the driving narrative of the story; I made that mistake once...it's called Warrior: Xenomorph Transformation. As much as people enjoy it, it sucks. It was written by 16 year old me WAY back in the day...but, I'm going off on a tangent here.

Onto the main point: the "why" a transformed Frisk, and "how"; I think I've solved that issue of a cringey (hopefully) aspects of exploring this kind of narrative device here by incorporating it not necessarily as a "transformation" in the strictest of senses, but as something having to do with the main conflict of the story. You'll get an idea of what I mean in the next chapter when things start to actually pick up a bit. Hopefully I can keep to this kind of schedule, otherwise it's gonna be bad for keeping people entertained.

Btw, I **DID** actually just finish editing this chapter. I added a bit more to the Flowey/Sans conflict, added some more flavor to the reveal of Frisk, and corrected most of the mistakes I found. Alright, gotta go now. Writing the next chapter for this already. Honestly, can't wait to bring it forwards.


	6. APPREHENSION

**Undertale: The Final Choice**  
 **Chapter 5: APPREHENSION**

* * *

Sans just stood in front of me. While he started to say his thanks to me for saving his ass as I came out from the doorway's shadows, he stopped mid–sentence, his normally cheery–looking smile faltering for a moment into a look of shock. I couldn't tell what was going through his mind, but as he stared me down, I began to feel a little bit uncomfortable, APPREHENSIVE even of saving him. Maybe it was something having to do with being face–to–face after so long? Well…maybe…but I knew that if the silence were to break, I'd need to speak first.

"Soooooo…you came," I awkwardly stated. This seemed to startle him out of his silence, and his smile returned back to the plastered grin that he usually wore. However, there was a hint in his eyes that he was concentrating on something else.

"so, uh…you gonna tell me, uh…what happened all around…there?" I cocked a brow in confusion at his question as he gestured to me. That was…a strange way to say hello.

"Nice to see you too…" I replied in return, the awkwardness of the whole situation being almost too much to bear. Sans' expression…it wasn't one of inviting friendship, or one that said he was sorry…it was almost like he was studying me. I watched his pupils, darting quickly around me, almost scanning me. After what honestly felt like minutes of quiet, Sans gave a hefty sigh before asking me a question I did not expect.

"where'd you get that SOUL kiddo?" Immediately, I saw the room flash back to black and white, Sans' expression still unmoving from its smile. While I didn't feel any killing intent behind it, I couldn't honestly say I wasn't scared. I'd been in this situation only once before, and last time I was in a situation like this, it didn't end up going all that well.

"W–what?" I asked to myself, my menu popping up. I brought up the ACT menu, but as I did, it seemed to fade a little, before looking like it glitched out of existence. My eyes widened at what just happened…where did my options go?! Sans saw the glitch as well, and I saw his eye quickly flash blue before my SOUL followed suite. I was pinned in place, unable to move, and while it didn't do any damage, I knew that I could be in serious trouble…what bothered me most though was…what the Hell did I do? I struggled as best as I could before I tried to reason with the skeleton.

"Sans, what's going on?!" Apparently, my turn passed, so Sans started again.

"i'm not gonna beat around the bush…who are you, and what've you done with them?" While there was no attack, I almost felt my sins crawling up my back as I cocked a brow in confusion, Sans walking towards me. My menu returned, and I selected the ACT button as quickly as possible. Looking at it, I saw letters glitch in and out with what appeared to be hands, faces, and other symbols.

"The Hell?!" I yelled at seeing the glitchy ACT menu. However, to the best of my ability, I selected "talk" and used my turn to try and reason with him.

"W–what the Hell are you doing Sans?! I thought we were over this!" Sans stared at me coldly before giving a chuckle.

"kid…you 'goat' to be kidding me right now. i'm here to talk with a human. you really aren't human now, aren't you?"

"W–WHAT?!" I screamed in utter confusion. Sans was making no sense, and I was terrified I was going to have to LOAD the SAVE I'd made before I came down here. Selecting "talk" again from the ACT menu, I tried to reason with him again.

"Sans, let me go now! I swear I don't have any idea what you're talking about!"

"can't do that buddy. not until i'm sure i didn't let my swear go to waste." Sans swearing on something? That was rich. It was already something I remembered from timelines ago, but Sans didn't make promises lightly. I couldn't imagine him even swearing on something. This time, I just stopped struggling to try and get my bearings on whatever Sans was talking about. According to him, I wasn't human, but looking down at my hands, I could see that I was human…wasn't it? There had to be something else I wasn't seeing, or maybe something that Sans was seeing?

"you, uh, gonna take your turn? i'd like to 'stick' around, but i kinda wanna 'branch' out to an old friend." Thinking hard on it, I decided to go to the "ask a question" option for ACT.

"Alright Sans…my turn to ask a question. Who do you see in front of you?" The question seemed to throw the skeleton off guard, meaning that I had a chance. Maybe I wouldn't have to LOAD back in.

"what?"

"You heard me. Tell me who you see in front of you." Sans seemed to think for a moment before asking a question in return.

"is this some kinda sick joke kid? i don't wanna have to hurt you so you can answer mine." I pulled up the ACT menu and used "talk" to try and reason a little more.

"Sans, c'mon man. You don't have to do this. I thought you came to talk.

"what do you think we're doin' kid? still aren't very convincing, or honest with me. where'd you get that SOUL from? who are you?" Sans' questions were beginning to aggravate me. I was halfway tempted to use the FIGHT option…but that wasn't me…that was something else entirely. My hand went towards the ACT menu, and as I was scrolling through the options, I realized something that might potentially work…it was a long shot, and the memories themselves were more than a little fuzzy, but I remember the first real friend I made down here after meeting Toriel.

"Sans, you remember the first time we met, right? Do you remember what I did the first time?" Sans' brow cocked and his pupils darkened.

"kid, don't start toying with me. i'd rather not have to, uh, explain the mess down here."

"Sans, I remember how you told me that greeting a new friend started with a handshake…it's a little fuzzy, but I remember actually running, thinking that you were gonna kill me; instead, I got a whoopee cushion in the hand after you popped up in front of me and told me to shake your hand." Sans' pupils returned and his brows furrowed in thought. That was good! That meant that I was getting through to him! This time, he didn't even bother to take his turn, so I did so again.

"And I have memory of that time you let me see your room the first time. I remember your codeword. I remember plenty of things that, if I WASN'T Frisk, that I wouldn't know. Go ahead, rapid–fire me if you have to." Sans looked in thought before releasing my SOUL from his grasp. He sighed as he thought for a moment.

"alright…you got me there…but here's one that i know only you would know…if you're the real you. during your genocide, who did you feel most upset about hurting?" Now this…this was the moment that I dreaded. Sans' gaze was piercing, looking at my SOUL as I thought hard about it. When I killed Toriel, it was devastating…but it was nothing compared to losing Sans' friendship. Thinking back on it, I could already feel my eyes start to water as I thought on how Sans looked at me back at the Hall of Judgement.

"You…Mom's a close second, but you take the cake. Looking back to it, the loss of your friendship was probably what upsets me most." Sans stayed quiet for a moment. I waited patiently, filled with DETERMINATION, to make his decision. After what felt like a solid hour of silence, Sans started again.

"kid…you really had me 'goat'ing there for a minute. i thought i was gonna have to get the 'bleating' truth outta ya. heh, heh, heh." The goat puns were rather annoying, but my smile came from how good it was good to see Sans actually smiling again, and not just because it was plastered on. Seeing Sans SPARE me made me even more ecstatic, and I returned the SPARE in kind. The room's color faded back, the moonlight illuminating the patch of grass in the center, my SOUL disappearing back into my body with a warm red light.

"it's good to see ya kid." I smiled and walked forwards, extending my hand to shake his in comradery.

"It's good to see you too." Sans took the moment and seized the opportunity to shake my hand, drawing me into what could best be described as an awkward hug.

"so…let's get something straight…you're really you, right? i ain't just imagining things?" I shrugged, not knowing what he was really talking about.

"Sans, I'll tell you right now that it's just me. I don't know what the Hell you're talking about, but as far as I know, I'm still a human, you're still a Monster, and we're still both buds…right?" Sans stayed quiet for a hot second, before breaking the awkward embrace.

"wait…so you don't…know?" Now I was getting frustrated. The pronoun game was always a FUN game to play, but it was getting old.

"Know WHAT? And, before we go grab some dinner, let me ask you something! What the Hell?!" Sans backed off a bit as I started ranting to him about how weird he was acting. Eventually, his hands rose up in defense as I started pointing very hard at him.

"alright, alright…relax. i'll tell you after we get some grub. right now, i'm starving to the 'bone'."

"No! Either you tell me what's going on, or we won't eat! Got it?!" Sans shrugged, not really in the mood to fight about it, it seemed.

"ok kid. look at your hands…tell me what you see." I rolled my eyes, looking to my hands, both the backs and the front of them. I saw only skin and fingernails…nothing out of the usual.

"I see hands. What of them?"

"what do they look like?" Now I was rather annoyed by Sans unwillingness to tell me.

"Hands…what else?" Sans' brow cocked in what I could only assume as confusion.

"do they look…i dunno…weird?"

"Well…they look like normal hands, right? I dunno!" I snapped.

"hey, easy there. might wanna give it a 'wrist'." Okay…now THAT one was clever, and caused me to chuckle.

"alright…do you, uh, have a mirror at all?" I thought for a moment, wondering what he could possibly mean by that.

"Y–yeah…there's one in the hallway back Home."

"cool. look kid, uh, how about we grab some grub and then we take a look in the mirror. i guarantee that what you'll find will make you self–'reflect'." Sans took it upon himself to start walking to the second door that led back to the basement of Home, and start walking down the hall. Looking around for a moment, hoping to see Flowey so I could have a quick word, I was disappointed to find that he was probably brooding over what happened. Giving off a sad sigh, I stepped away to follow Sans back upstairs. It didn't take too long, and while the small trek back upstairs wasn't daunting, the silence that was between us certainly was. After getting to the top of the stairs, I heard Sans talking with Toriel, and turned the corner. Before I'd even known what was going on, I felt like I was hit by a truck as Mom embraced me. She was getting real protective of me today…

"My child, oh thank goodness you are alright!" I muffled my thanks for her concern, not even certain on what was going on anymore, almost afraid that I was gonna black out from Mom's embrace.

* * *

That was…weird. The kid acted like themself, but they didn't see themself like I did. I felt a little bad or interrogating them so harshly, but it didn't seem to bother 'em. Not too much, anyways. Watching how Tori acted around them, there was no more doubt in my mind; this was them, and even if the kid didn't notice, surely Toriel would've had to notice, right? However, it seemed to confuse me further when it seemed like she didn't even notice that they were a Boss Monster, and not a human. There was something buggy going on, and I didn't like it.

The weird shit that happened with their combat menu only proved that there was something more to this Timeline than meets the eye. Their menu seemed almost indecisive; unlike other runs, where their menu was clear as day, this time, it was less clear to me…and more like a blur. It'd fade in and out every so often, out of focus…then it just vanished during their first turn…and not only did it vanish, but it seemed to glitch out, almost like some bad code in a game, and when it came back, it looked…wrong. Some of the options, from what I saw, weren't even written in plain English. They were in some sort of weird symbols. I could swear that those were familiar, but I didn't know where they could've come from. It had to have had something to do with the figure from last night, but even then, I didn't know for sure.

"so, uh, tori. if you're finished squishing the kid, are we gonna have some grub? i'd rather not be skin and 'bones' before i'm through with tonight." Toriel looked up to me from Frisk for a moment before picking herself back up, chuckling at the pun as she did.

"Yes, of course Sans. Please, take a seat anywhere you would like. I will go to the kitchen and grab our meal. Not unless you are too 'chicken' to help." I smiled in return, having got the pun and now knowing what was on the menu tonight.

"okay, now that was some 'foul' play. I'll tar and 'feather' you for that one." I heard Toriel howl with laughter from the kitchen as I took my seat, Frisk taking theirs right next to me. They were quietly thinking to themselves, their attention directed away from me. From what I saw back down in the basement, they didn't know what that they were a Boss Monster now. It was strange, but at this point, I'd grown accustomed to the strangeness.

"don't think too hard bucko. you'll end up floatin' away with all that hot air," I jested. Frisk's attention was brought back to me, and their expression returned to neutrality, trying to hide the fact that I'd gotten them with that joke.

"eh? eh? c'mon kid, I see a smile in there somewhere."

"Nope," they replied, DETERMINED to keep their cool.

"what's the matter? aren't my jokes 'sansational'?" They groaned at that one, and at that time, I knew that I'd lost it.

"Please Sans, you're losing your edge. I've heard that one." I smirked, already having thought of a response to that one.

"so, you're not going to let me push you to the 'edge' with that one?" As Frisk was drinking water, they almost choked on it, and coughed as they stifled a laugh.

"spit take," I said simply, taking out a ketchup bottle and starting to chug. Almost immediately, Frisk started laughing. Thankfully, there wasn't a whole lot of water, and it just left their snout in a spray as they practically died. No real mess, aside from something that could easily be cleaned up with the napkins, but there was still a noticeable shimmer on the exposed portions of the table.

"Sans, I do hope that you are not tormenting them with too terrible of jokes. It would be a shame if they made a mess," I heard Toriel warn as she stepped out of the kitchen, a rather large quiche in her hands. I just shrugged and took another swig from the bottle before continuing.

"nah. these jokes are 'clean'." I heard Frisk groan in defeat as Toriel laughed, taking her seat next to Frisk at the other end of the table.

"I am sorry to 'quiche' you both waiting, but I felt that there was a need to relieve the tension between you two." I winked, shrugging in response.

"no worries. i couldn't 're–frisk' a good joke or two." Frisk groaned again while Toriel howled in laughter. I had to admit, their tolerance for my puns had only grown much shorter…but when I told a good one, I told a good one. Upon Tori cutting open the quiche, I took the item and set it on my plate. The inside looked like it was filled with chicken and mushrooms, and taking a bite, I could tell that Tori had a hand in cooking more than just pies.

"so tell me…what do you two do around here? not a whole lotta monsters to really talk to or play with for them."

"Well," Frisk started, "There's not really a whole lot of stuff down here to do. Mom was right when she told me the Ruins seem immensely small when you stay here, but I make do with what I got. She says that she's going to start school soon, so I'll have that to look forwards to." Toriel nodded in agreement, clearly not getting the sarcasm in the remark. Or, maybe she did, given the way that she ruffled their fluffy head in a way that told them to be quiet.

"Indeed…aside from that, we usually take the time to take walks and talk with one–another on our respective days. Though, I will say that Frisk has taken a hand to art." Frisk seemed stunned at what Toriel just said, and leaned in to try and whisper to her.

"Mom! Don't tell him about that! It's just a hobby!"

"it's alright kid. doesn't seem 'sketchy' to me." Frisk turned back to me, DETERMINATION in their eyes as Toriel chuckled.

"Hee, hee, hee. Come now, my child. It is not a bad hobby to have."

"But I'm not good at it! It's all just really basic kid's drawings! You get bored when you don't have a lot of friends!"

"aaaaaaaand you're a kid, right?" I asked after taking another bite from my quiche. Frisk took a bite of theirs and quieted themself as Toriel continued on.

"Well, that is not true at all Frisk. You have me as your friend, and from what I can tell, you and Sans seem to be getting along."

"Right, and that's getting into the fact I…" Immediately, I saw the kid's face seize up as I realized what they were gonna talk about. "N-nevermind. I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean.

"'snow' prob frisk. sooner or later we were gonna get right to the point…hey, uh, tori. mind if we have a little privacy?" Toriel's face seemed to scrunch in suspicion at this, and I simply shrugged before winking. "don't worry. i'll make sure they eat their veggies like a good kid." Toriel still didn't seem convinced, until Frisk nodded, DETERMINATION flowing through eyes. In a moment, I saw the twinkling of their SAVE point being made. I suppose it was a perk of being able to understand the timelines…knowing when someone was saving…or loading. It still made me a little uncomfortable to think that they were still SAVING after all this time. Toriel smiled at Frisk before looking back to me.

"I will give you both some privacy then. Frisk, if you need me, I will be walking outside. The cellphone is on the kitchen counter if you need to talk to me."

"Of course Mom," they replied, before they stood up to receive a hug from Toriel. God, they really did love her that much, didn't they? It was heartwarming to see these two connecting like that…the fact that Frisk was now a Boss Monster, as it seemed, made the tenderness all that much more heartwarming. After they broke the embrace, I watched as Tori turned down the corridor and make a right, shutting the door softly behind her as she did. I turned to Frisk with a calm attitude…though, I couldn't say that I wouldn't feel strongly about their reasons behind what they did later; before I started, I gave a sigh, knowing what we were about to talk about.

"so, here we are," I said, silence only greeting me as I continued. "Look frisk, before we get started, i'm gonna make one thing clear. i ain't here to judge you and make a call. i'm just here to listen and really get a better understanding to why it happened. so, uh, tell me everything. i'm all 'ears'." I made a gesture to where any ears would be to at least kind of lighten the mood before all the doom and gloom came rolling in. But, looking at Frisk, there was something else on their mind.

"Well," they started, "Before I get started on telling you everything…why I did a violence and all that, I think you still have a bit of explaining to do yourself. You've been acting REALLY weird since you got here. Aside from what happened down in the basement, you've been watching me, studying me. There's something you know that I don't, and it's starting to bug me."

"heh…was it really that obvious bud?" I asked, almost to myself. "well, it's kinda hard to explain. you, uh, said that there was a mirror here, right?" Frisk nodded and stood up before I had a chance to say anything. As soon as they turned their gaze from me, I used a quick shortcut to the other end of the hall as they began walking down it. I turned to my right to gaze at the large mirror on the wall, and kinda guessed this was the mirror they were talking about.

"well, before you take a look, lemme tell ya, i think what you'll see, uh, suites you." I stood to the side as Frisk took a step in front of the mirror. Strangely, their reaction wasn't immediate. It was almost one of annoyance as they turned to me. Did they not see anything?

What was it that Sans was so fixated on? Looking in the mirror, I saw nothing but me. Turning back to Sans, my temper started to flair.

"Was this an elaborate joke?! What'd you see down in the basement?! What've you been seeing?!" I nearly yelled. Sans' eyes widened a little bit in shock.

"you mean you don't see?"

"What do you mean 'I don't see'?!" Now I was yelling, a little annoyed by this wild goose chase.

"frisk, you 'goat' to take a closer look. i swear i'm not pranking you across time and space," he retorted. I rolled my eyes at this, and was now even more annoyed.

"No! Tell me what you see! Stop playing 'cryptic shenanigans and just tell me what…" Out of the corner of my eye, there was something that happened in the mirror, stopping me mid–sentence as I was about to give Sans a verbal FIGHT.

"tell you what?" Sans asked, making a gesture to keep going; now fixated back to the mirror, I looked a little closer at what I thought I saw. In the blink of an eye, I saw it. It was like a glitch, right in front of my face. It would pop up every now and again, distorting the mirror around it and only giving me glimpses of white and black. This had to be what Sans was acting so weird about.

"Sooooooo…you know anything about this?"

"beats me kid." Looking back to the mirror again, I placed a hand to my face where the glitch would show up. When it did, I didn't feel anything bar what felt like a static shock. It wasn't a bad one, but more like something you did when you built up a charge on a carpet. It was…a tingling sensation, but not much else. However, upon touching it, I noticed that the glitch got worse.

"Sans, what the Hell man?!"

"don't look at me kid!" he defended, "this is a new one for me!" In the mirror, the glitch was worsening, no longer just contained to just one part, showing up at random intervals, but now the entirety of my face. The tingling sensation became electrifying, and I knew that something was terribly wrong. Sans knew so as well. I almost called out for Mom as I saw an image contort in the mirror. Now, not only was I glitching, but the mirror background was as well. The wall behind me seemed to phase and glitch in and out of existence, sometimes turning into zeros and ones; what spooked me most though was a tall white figure with no discernable eyes standing right behind me, glitching in and out of existence as those same weird symbols from my combat menu showed up above it. I stood there, paralyzed in fear as I heard the same sound from last night's talk with Flowey, except now it was longer, and it was going through different pitches. The…thing in the mirror then reached out with a spindly, very thin appendage and touched me in the back of my head. I felt its touch, and it felt…strange…like it wasn't real.

Whipping around, I saw no one was there, but Sans had one of his skull lasers out, ready to fire right where the entity that just touched me was. Before he could, however, he started glitching himself. It was almost like he was hit on pause, flickering every so often as he tried to move around. Looking around in a blind panic, I ran down the hall, back to the living room, to go and grab something hard to smash the mirror with, just thinking that might be the reason why shit was hitting the fan.

I'd have to explain to Mom why there was broken glass, but whatever was going on was a little more important than an unsafe walking hazard. I searched for something hard to use, and decided to grab Mom's book on snails and start heading back. As I turned the corner from the living room to the hall, my eyes shot wide open, and I stopped before ducking as low as I could as a white light and the distinctive sound of the skull firing its beam. Looking back up after it was over, I could see Sans panting, no longer glitching as he panted with his eye sockets blackened out. His smile was still there, but it was no longer genuine. I could see the terror that we were both feeling in his eyes. Standing back up, I saw Sans' sockets glow back up, and he walked back over very quickly.

"jeez frisk! you okay?" he asked, concerned about my wellbeing. I almost shoved him off before nodding in return.

"Y-y-yeah…I'm f-fine…do you know what that was?" Sans' sockets darkened again, and he sighed.

"i saw that thing in the mirror…first my place, now yours? what'd you do?" he accused. I scoffed at the accusation, APPREHENSION flooding my body from my SOUL and replacing any DETERMINATION I did have.

"What? Me?! You're crazy! You're the one who messes with time and space!"

"that ain't time and space kid. that's somethin' i don't think i've even seen before. you're the one who keeps SAVING!"

"Oh, that's rich Sans! Blame me because I have the ability to manipulate time! I thought you said that this was outside of time and space!"

"SAVING and LOADING aren't really something that i attribute to that! it seems like something outta a video game more than something that can be explained!" I gave a "pfft" in response, about to retort. However, I stopped hearing something behind Sans. It was something like the sound of a computer starting up…and it was coming from the mirror. Holding up the book, I slowly crept towards the mirror, seeing that the glitches were now gone. However, instead of a mirror, instead I saw nothing but black: an abyss that led to nowhere. Sans had decided to follow, his eyes widening at what he saw. In the abyss, symbols seemed to be placing themselves on–screen, like the ones that I was seeing from the glitch, and the ones I saw in the combat menu…these ones were mainly of hands, snowflakes, and what looked like computerized suns.

" 👍 👍❄ 👎," the first set said. I couldn't even read it, and looking at them seemed to hurt my head…like a faded memory that I couldn't remember.

"👍 ❄✋ 🕆✋ 🕈✋❄ 💧❄✌ ❄🕆🏱," it said, the first line vanishing as it did. The symbols came in slowly, each accompanied by what sounded like a distorted, shortened voice or whisper, each one sequencing itself at random.

"🕈 👍 💣 👌✌👍😐 🖂 ✋💧😐." As soon as the third set of symbols came in, the mirror seemed to start lighting up, almost like reaching the end of a tunnel. Then, as soon as the symbols disappeared, the mirror just suddenly…popped back into existence. Instead of staring into the abyss, I saw everything back to normal. As I began to creep into the mirror's vision, I saw something that completely blew me out of the water. Sans' goat puns now started to make sense as an all–consuming sense of APPREHENSION began to engulf me.

The figure that I saw creep into the mirror's surface seemed to glitch for a few moments before "correcting" itself to what looked like another Asriel. As I crept further, so did the figure in the mirror, and as I did, the tingling sensation from earlier, when I first touched the glitch, came quickly and vanished, piece by piece I watched as the human that crept into view was replaced by someone who looked a lot like Asriel. Looking down, away from the mirror, hoping it was just another glitch, I was startled into backing up into the wall behind me as I saw my hands…err…paws…instead of human hands, I had fluffy paws with what looked like pads at the tips of my fingers and in my palm.

Looking back up to the mirror, panting in APPREHENSION at what I was seeing, I saw that I still kept my short brown hair and my clothes, but they'd come to fit my new body a little better. Looking at the mirror's reflection, I started stretching my hands…paws out, and the reflection did the same. Looking down at my paws, I did it again, and then stepped forward. Looking at the reflection, it was much closer now. My hands immediately shot to my new fluffy ears, and touching them, I was almost startled again at the fact that I could FEEL them! How did I not notice any of this?! My normally neutral expression, which would've likely also shown on the reflection, was now one of shock. My mouth hung ajar, revealing a set of pearly whites that were just like Mom's…just like Asriel's: two pairs of sharp, pointed canines, the upper pair sticking out whenever I closed my mouth normally, and a bottom pair. It was…surreal. It was almost like I was looking into a funhouse mirror, and turning around, I could see that the figure did the same.

Honestly…I didn't know what to think. I looked over to Sans, whose smile was back, yet I could tell that he was thinking on what just happened too, looking away from me, a gloved hand to his chin. Now his puns absolutely made sense…same with his interrogation…but now, I felt a little bad for snapping at him when I initially saw nothing in the mirror.

"Sans?" I asked. He looked up from his train of thought, and his smile got a little wider.

"so, uh…tell me…hope you don't feel too 'baaaaaaaaad' about me not tellin' you. just didn't know how to really tell you." I chuckled in response, rubbing the back of my head in sheepishness.

"Yeah, 'cause saying, 'heya, how'd you turn into a goatkid?' would've worked out well, heh, heh." Sans chuckled as well, relaxing a little more after the ordeal we'd just gone through.

"sooooooo…now that you know, you wanna talk about it?" I stayed silent for a while, not really wanting to go back to such dark topics. I certainly wanted to talk with Sans about it…but now…I just had this thrown on top of everything else.

"C-can I just…can I have a minute man?" I asked, my tone getting a little quiet at the end. At this point, the APPREHENSION of doing anything was a little much to bear, and I just collapsed to me knees. My DETERMINATION to CONTINUE was gone…I sighed as I laid my head into my knees and tried to scrunch myself up as tight as I could and wait it out.

* * *

"frisk?" I asked after a few moments of silence. They didn't respond to me, and I rubbed the back of my head, trying to figure out something to say to them. We'd just sat in silence since the whole the thing with the mirror and them finding out what'd happened to them. Tori still wasn't back from her walk around the Ruins, and I don't think she'd appreciate me calling about the kid being upset when it was already hard enough for her to let me come and talk with them.

"you gonna be alright bud?" This seemed to get a reaction, though it was one where they seemed to dig themselves tighter into their grip. I heard a muffled "yeah," but I could tell that they were lying, even if a little.

"don't lie to me kid…i think we've both had enough 'lying around'." I took the moment to plant my bony butt next to them. I saw them tense slightly, before pulling their head from their hands, their hands gripping and pulling their eyelids down slightly before giving way. They then turned to me with a small smile.

"Heh…does that mean you're gonna get some exercise lazybones?"

"nah. pap's got that covered for me," I retorted, taking the bottle of ketchup from my coat and taking a swig.

"You know Sans…you didn't have to come here to talk. I was doing just fine with Flowey and Mom." My brows lowered in guilt as the kid started to talk. "I think I've done enough to you all…my conscience is the guilty one, yours should be much cleaner.

"heh…funny story. shame it ain't true buddy." From the corner of my eyes, I watched their head tilt in confusion, one ear drooping further right than the other.

"i came to make amends, and say i was sorry for what i did. i know i'm not really a guy that's supposed to care too much, but after what you did…i just got fed up, and after you promised to never leave, i had to be sure." I took another swig of the ketchup as I continued on.

"kept on thinkin' that you were gonna go back and do it all over again, just like the last time…and the last time…and the last time…gave me a nifty feeling of deja 'blue'," I replied, gesturing to my coat and flashing my left eye a very quick blue. Frisk seemed to smile a bit at that.

"in a way, as the weeks went by, i, uh, kinda forgot why i was afraid of you…and hating you so much."

"Oh, you're not the only one. I'd hate me too…I DO hate me too. I did some awful shit."

"so…at least you know why i was so serious with ya, and why i wasn't ever in a 'humerus' mood with you. but hey, when life gives you lemons, you squirt those lemons back into life's eyes." I watched the kid stifle a chuckle at the quote, giving a smile in return. Despite the changes over years of doing this, despite the weird shit of this timeline, and despite Frisk now being a Monster…it was still them.

"Y'know…you're not alone in that sentiment Sans," they said, earning my attention as they started to finally let go of their defense and start spilling the beans.

"I'll be honest, while I don't seem like the nastiest person, I got some pretty dark demons hiding underneath this DETERMINATION. I may not have come up to the mountain for an unhappy reason…I may not have been unhappy making the friends I had down here, but I always felt that there was something else that was missing…DETERMINATION became curiosity, and curiosity became OBSESSION." Now I was intrigued.

"well…what made you curious on killing?" I watched them nervously chuckle to themself before turning to me.

"I already told you…a simple curiosity. I had no reason for it, no real motivation. When I was unhappy with what I got the first time, and got our happy ending the first time…I at least had reason. I wanted to help; after that, it was just all downhill from there. I just…I had to know…I had to see everything…and when I was on the brink of seeing everything, of exhausting everything, I quit…and now, this is something new." Now, I was shocked. There wasn't any unhappiness behind it, no joy out of it…was it really that simple? Were they just a curious kid who wasn't told "stop" until it was too late?

"so. what? did you ever see us as actual friends?"

"Of course!" they defended, "How could I not?! You always keeping an eyesocket out for me, Papyrus' desire to just be a good friend, Undyne's can–do, go get 'em attitude. Alphys' need to do the right thing always, Asgore's…well…kindness…you and everyone else I made friends with along the way…always so kind, so caring. I never intended to hurt you…but, I suppose if there's anything I've learned, it's that curiosity kills the cat." As they looked back down, I could see their eyes starting to shimmer with tears. While they didn't start crying, the subject was still pretty hard for 'em. Instead of taking another swig, I instead placed a hand on their shoulder and decided to reassure them.

"well, let's 'cut' to the chase kid. as much as i still hate and have never really forgotten what you did, i can at least forgive a curious kid that made some mistakes. especially since that kid is a good friend at heart. as long as you've been doin' this, you're still a kid at heart and SOUL, and it was pretty 'SOUL'less of me to treat you like a monster after you left and spared me back in THAT run." I stood up, pulling the kid up with me as I did, my bones creaking under the strain of not being lazy. They looked at me attentively, hanging onto every word with great interest.

"you're a good kid frisk. you're honest to a fault, you tell your friends what you really think…if i didn't know you better, i'd think you'd just grown up like that…which is why this is hard to ask of you, especially now." Now their face started to contort back into frustration.

"i'll be honest with you…i don't think that there's a way that this can end without you going through one last time…and seeing what we saw in that mirror, i think it's fair to say that we might be on borrowed time. i don't think this timeline was meant to exist, and i think whatever force at work is looking to correct it, and making you a monster is one step that i think is being taken to do that." Frisk then took my hand off their shoulder and gave a very APPREHENSIVE sigh.

"I can't…I promised you I wouldn't mess with your lives again. I promised you that I wouldn't leave Mom…I promised her I wouldn't do this again."

"kid. i don't know about you, but weird things've been goin' on since this timeline started. papy got his dream job, i keep seeing things out of the corner of my sockets or hearing things that aren't there…i don't think that this timeline is stable…i think, from what i saw there…we'll eventually crash, and we'll be right back at the beginning…right where we started before…with no memory at all." Taking my hand off their shoulder, I placed it back in my pocket and gave a half–hearted smile.

"i don't wanna put that kind of pressure on you again…i don't wanna make you feel like you're the future of us monsters again…but honestly, i'd rather we finally get a happy ending that we stay with, rather than one that can be RESET by some new kid." They started shaking their head, their eyes closed shut as they tried to put off the request. I knew I couldn't force them to do it, but I at least had to get the gravity of it across.

"Sans…you know I can't. I told you…I'm happy here. As much as I thought of you all as my friends, I betrayed your trust. I can't do that again. I can't risk it again."

"well…let's be honest," I started, my smile widening at the easy pun, "you can't spell 'frisk' without 'risk' bud…look, i understand if you don't wanna care anymore. i was there too, but i'm just telling you…we may need to go through one last time. but hey, 'lighten' up buddo. even if you don't do it again, you know you can count on me to keep your spirits 'bright'." I watched them look back up and smile again at the puns before practically chaining me into a hug.

"I'm sorry Sans…I just can't…but thanks for your encouragement." Looking at the kid in shock, I placed a hand behind their head and another on their back. Doing so, a vision of the Hall of Judgement, and that last death flickered in front of me for a moment. The vision itself was a little haunting, as I saw the cage of bones around them.

"heh. no sweat kid. how about we go finish that quiche? i'm feeling rather 'peckish' again." Frisk rolled their eyes at the pun, but followed anyways back to the dining room table. After about 20 or so more minutes of eating and telling bad jokes to one–another, I heard the door open and tori walk back in. Thankfully, the gaster blaster I'd used didn't leave any marks that I could see, so I didn't have to explain to Toriel any giant holes in the wall. After a bit of time thanking Tori for the food and for allowing me to talk with Frisk, I made sure that she remembered her swear, and that I remembered mine. While we both knew what our promises were, and the significance of them, I was hoping that Tori wouldn't have to keep up her end of it so I could at least live more comfortably and relaxed.

Seeing Frisk again was…a far more different experience than what I expected. While I expected them to be alright, and to stay DETERMINED, I could see that they were figuring stuff out on their own too. The fact that they'd become a Boss Monster 'cause of some sort of glitch or error in what seemed to be reality made it that little bit harder for them, but I think that was the least of their concerns now. My request for them to go through the Underground again was not one that I thought that they'd take lightly, but I was willing to give up on it if they didn't want to do it. As much as I'd learned to care about this again, I think that their wellbeing was worth more to me than any freedom that could ever be obtained on the Surface.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hey everyone. Here's Chapter 5 for you all. Now...I will fully admit...it's hard to write...it's even harder to write something that doesn't feel forced or cringey, given the subject matter. I will tell you right now, this chapter was made with the full intent of starting the big plotline, and in getting more of the details of what's going on.

For one of the paragraphs in Frisk's dialogue with Sans...yes...that is WingDings...or, it was, until 's HTML code broke what it was supposed to say; instead of random letters, it's supposed to say,  
"ERROR CORRECTED  
CONTINUING WITH STARTUP  
WELCOME BACK *FRISK"  
Now, because it's broken here, I'm willing to provide the link to where it's supposed to a WingDings translator right here for those who're interested in what the unbroken text was **SUPPOSED** to be: .ru/static/wingdings_ . For future reference (and possibly maintenance on this chapter), if any of you know how to do WingDings in in a way that doesn't break, please let me know. Now, it's obvious that W.D. Gaster has a connection to all of this, given the Room 272 NPC is appearing. That means, yes, in all likelihood, it's hit a specific FUN value in the Timeline that'll show the Gaster Followers, and possibly even Gaster himself. Who knows though? I certainly don't know the meaning of FUN.

And yes...no Flowey this chapter. I wanted to write Frisk's confrontation with Flowey after the fact, but I just didn't have the room to do it...so, we're stuck with this for now. Regardless, now we're starting to get into the more nitty gritty of the plot. As we all can see...the titular "Final Choice" isn't whether or not to stay with Toriel anymore...it's whether or not to go through the Underground one last time...how this Timeline's run would differ is a mystery...with what's been going on, anything could happen. Anyways, I'm gonna let you all get back to reading. Enjoy until next week or two!


	7. Protecting the Ones we LOVE

**Undertale: The Final Choice**  
 **Chapter 6: Protecting the Ones we LOVE**

* * *

This had to be the strangest run out of them all…but not only was it the strangest, I think it was probably the most devastating on my own self-reflection. Since Sans left, I couldn't get any sleep. My attempts were being plagued by voices from beyond my own control, just like in previous runs. Instead of only Asgore's voice though, there were others.

"You cannot give up Frisk…you must stay DETERMINED." Asgore's wasn't all that different from what he usually said, except that he now referred to me by my actual name, and not Chara's…but what if I didn't want to stay DETERMINED for the sake of humans and Monsters? What if, instead, I was DETERMINED to do exactly the opposite of what he wanted?

"YOU CAN STILL DO GOOD FOR US! THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEEDS YOU TO HELP HIM TO HELP THE UNDERGROUND!" Ah, Papyrus…he was so naïve and arrogant, yet it was never in a way that made him seem unlikable; in fact, that was far from it at all. He was kid at his very SOUL, and it was something I found endearing, so much cooler than anyone I'd ever known; he was fine with himself and his friends, and was always willing to give the benefit of the doubt to everyone. That being said, I couldn't bring myself to go back to someone that had such a naïve spirit to believe that I was a good person, even in the worst of times.

"The Underground needs you! You can't quit on us now! DON'T BE A QUITTER!" Undyne: she was extreme — an understatement if I'd ever thought of one — but she knew how to make someone like me realize that I did need to fight for what was right sometimes, but if she knew what I'd done, I don't think that she'd give me the benefit of the doubt like Papyrus did. She would hate me for eternity, until even her SOUL had collapsed under the DETERMINATION that held it together.

"D-do you r-really want to stay in the d-dark and l-l-lie? S-stay DETERMINED for a-all of our sakes." Alphys was such a sweetheart. She honestly just wanted people to like her. She reminded me of a distant memory of an awkward kid in school I used to know…but now, it felt so long ago that she and that kid had almost become one and the same. If there was someone more APPREHENSIVE than me right now about anything, it was her. But I couldn't bring myself to go and see her again. I knew she needed the confidence boosts from me to do anything about the amalgamates or her feelings about Undyne, but her confidence would tank when she learned about my genocide, and what I'd done prior to that.

"i know i said i wouldn't pressure you, but, uh, everyone needs ya and stuff. if you're not gonna save the underground, at least stop by and say hi to everyone before it happens." Upon hearing Sans' voice, my eyes shot open and I quickly sat up, a scowl plastered on my snout. Now my mood had been made even more dour than before; even if Sans had said that he wouldn't put any more pressure on me, any pressure was still pressure, including the pressure to just come out and say hi to everybody. I may have become a Monster, but I was still a "monster". I made a promise to him, to everyone, that I wouldn't leave the Ruins. I was going to keep to that, no matter the cost to myself.

Knowing that I wouldn't be getting any sleep anytime soon, I got up from the bed, sighing as my new padded feet touched the ground. Honestly, as strange as it was, it almost felt natural. Ever since I fell into the Underground, I could certainly feel I connected with the Monsters a little more than humans, but I never felt that I'd make a good Monster. I suppose now I was proving that wrong, because apparently the world decided that I'd make a better Monster than a human. Though, there was something always off…like it wasn't all that real or solid. When I'd look at my hand, I could swear I saw numbers running along the fine white fur running up my forearm, but as soon as I gained a clear focus, the numbers just vanished. I swear that every so often, a slight tingle would make itself known, like your foot falling asleep, and I'd look to where it came from to find nothing out of the usual. It was strangely unreal, yet very real at the same time, and my SOUL's constant changing from red to white and back again only solidified that idea that it was both real, yet unreal.

But, that was only my tired mind running along and keeping me awake, much to my displeasure. I needed to get some sleep. Mom had a big day planned for me for tomorrow. Deciding that I wouldn't get tired by just waiting to fall asleep, I decided to take a walk and grab some fresh air. Looking to my shoes, I decided to forgo using them; I wasn't going to be gone long — maybe only an hour at most.

I hoped to whatever god was watching me that Mom was asleep as I slowly opened the door to my room. Looking to my right, I saw that it was dark in the living room; no glow from the fireplace meant that Mom had likely went to bed herself. I quietly tiptoed my way to the door, looking to my right as I grabbed my coat from the coatrack on the wall next to the door to make sure that she wasn't just hiding in the dark. She wouldn't do that, I know, but paranoia was something that all people knew, right? After putting on my coat, I quietly opened the door and stepped out into the night, slowly and carefully shutting it afterwards.

While I could tell tonight was a cold night, I wasn't at all cold. The fur I now had kept me nice and toasty, if not a little warmer than I would've liked, and made the cold night seem like a cool breeze; I'd have to get used to that. Looking around the yard, I took in deep breaths of the crisp mountain air, filled with DETERMINATION at the sight of the moonlight peeking through small holes in the mountain. The area was quiet, peaceful even; it almost made me forget about all the troubles that the Underground had brought to me and to everyone in it. If I hadn't known any better, I would've assumed this to be the best timeline out of them all…but I wasn't that naïve.

"Well, isn't this INTERESTING?" I turned to the flowerbed where I knew the voice had come from, my DETERMINATION faltering and APPREHENSION returning. Seeing Flowey didn't fill me with any comfort and only made me nervous of what was to come; after our conflict in the basement and what happened with the mirror, I didn't really have the will to go and chat with him tonight, but here he was. I'm pretty certain he was waiting for me to come outside anyways, and would've confronted me tomorrow. I suppose it was for the best to just get it over with here.

"Instead of a human with DETERMINATION to spare, I find a Monster with plenty of APPREHENSION," he taunted as I stepped closer to him, "Oh this is RICH!" He then began to laugh madly, finding amusement in my predicament. Instead of confronting him on it, I let him have his enjoyment. As he began to calm down, I cleared my throat to remind him I was still in his presence.

"Are you finished?" I asked him with a monotone voice.

"Oh yeah, I'm done," he giggled, a wide grin plastering itself from petal to petal, "So, how does it feel to NOT be made of BLOOD now? Does it not hurt anymore?" Seeing as he was jovial and attempting to get my goat with jokes, I took the opportunity to attempt to humor his already-jolly mood.

"Oh, it's not that different…probably not as different as turning into a SOULLESS weed from a Monster," I jested, Flowey's jovial smile carving itself open as he declared his irritation.

"Watch it Frisk, or I might just go back to my philosophy of 'kill or be killed'!" Knowing that I might be stretching my luck with that, I put up my hands in mock defense.

"Okay, okay, you win," I conceded, taking the opportunity to take a seat next to him in the flowerbed, my APPREHENSION of talking with him vanishing for the moment.

"So, how's it actually feel? You know…being Toriel's kid now and all?" Flowey asked suddenly. It was a strange question to hear from him, but I shrugged in response as I thought on it.

"It's not that different," I said matter-of-factly, but there was still something that was somewhat different. "Well…actually, it's somewhat different in the sense that, since I found out about 'this'" — I gestured to my entire body as I thought aloud to him — "I think that I've gotten just that little bit closer, like…like our SOULS are connected." Flowey gave an indignant "pfft" as he responded.

"Well, that SHOULD be something you should've expected, or did you forget what that old turtle told you?"

"You mean how Boss Monsters use their SOUL power to have their children grow up? No, I haven't forgotten that. I just never thought it'd apply to me, considering, y'know, I was human at one point." Flowey merely rolled his eyes at this and answered for me.

"Well, you're now a Monster," he said bluntly, "I'd assume that you could've put two-and-two together. Sometimes I wonder how smart you actually are Frisk…" I put up my hands somewhat defensively in response to Flowey's insult.

"Easy there 'sunny'," I punned, resulting in Flowey groaning in annoyance and hitting me with a single "friendliness pellet", bringing me down by 3 HP and causing me to wince. At least it was better than the alternative though. After a little more back-and-forth banter, we just sat in a few moments of awkward silence, where neither of us dared to say anything to one-another; I knew exactly why as well. There wasn't a whole lot to talk about aside from what happened down in the basement, and given that I told Flowey I would talk to him about it, well…I had to be the one to start it off.

"So," I began slowly, "— let's talk about what happened…down in the basement." Flowey only looked to me for a moment before giving his answer.

"Pass," he nonchalantly replied, instantly cutting me off before I could even come up with a response, "I'm good on talking about what happened down there."

"Wait a minute Flowey —" I started, only for him to interrupt me.

"Nope. Let's move onto something else now." He tried to derail the conversation towards something else, but now I was intrigued. His DETERMINATION to not talk about the issue at hand was something entirely new, as he wasn't that difficult to talk to given how open he was about his time as a flower. I had to be just as DETERMINED to get to the bottom of whatever could make him not want to talk about it.

"Look Flowey, as much as you don't want to talk about what happened down there, I do," I continued with DETERMINATION in my tone, "So, I'm going to make it simple for both of us. Why did you attack Sans, and why'd you just stop when I told you to?"

"Are you REALLY going to try and press that Frisk?" he cautioned with an annoyed tone to his voice and a malicious expression plastered on his face. Despite his attempts at intimidation, I knew that this had to be an important enough issue for him to not want to talk about it, so I gave my answer as plainly as I could.

"Yes, I am. This affects both of us," I insisted. Flowey merely shook his head and chuckled in response, starting off rather like Flowey, but the chuckle eventually trailed off, almost as though something was bothering him.

"You really are an idiot sometimes. I think you and I both know I didn't need a reason to attack that Smiley Trashbag," he tried to plead to his case of being a SOULLESS creature.

"But you gave me a reason," I protested, remembering what he had told me when I confronted him in the basement, "You told me he was trespassing, that I can get as a reason. What I don't get the most is WHY you stopped when I told you. You could've killed him easily enough, and knew that I could've loaded up a previous SAVE. You're just as much of an asshole to have that kind of fun, but you didn't." Flowey started to get defensive now.

"Oh don't start calling me bad names Frisk. I thought you were better than that," he teased, a carved grin showing his enjoyment of keeping me in the dark, "I think you just answered your own question though. If you can SAVE and LOAD, then what's the point of doing anything like that? Though, now that I look back on it, I don't even know if you CAN do that anymore, since Monsters aren't able to use DETERMINATION like humans can," he tried to explain, but I knew something else was up. The way that he just didn't want to talk about it was already a big enough clue, but what was even more of a clue was his attempts to shift it to something that I'd already know. It was odd, but I felt like Flowey had more to say about this matter than he was letting on.

"Flowey, you know that I prefer to talk it out rather than FIGHT it out, right? We would've been down there longer had you not decided to stop. Now, I just want to know WHY you stopped, and you're starting to irritate me with your silence on this issue!" I interrogated, but he remained silent, now looking away as though he had something to hide, "See, right there! Right there is why I'm so confused on this! The way you acted down there, the way you're acting about this right now! It's REALLY out of character, even by your standards Flowey!"

"So what if it is? I don't NEED an excuse! I can have fun by messing around with you and making you doubt yourself!"

"Yes, you can, but you didn't, and I don't think you are now! You just stopped without a fight, and left Sans and I to talk!" I briefly snapped, Flowey cringing as I did.

"Please…I just want to know," I pleaded, hoping that he'd eventually cave in. However, he remaining strong, DETERMINED to not say or do anything that'd give me any clues. A few moments passed before I began again.

"Look, I just don't believe that you did it for self-preservation," I noted, causing Flowey to turn away completely. "You engaged with me, you talked with me, gave me a reasoning behind what you did, and when I told you to let him go, you did without much of a fight in the first place. That's not the attitude of someone looking to preserve their life, that's the attitude of…of…w-wait, wait, wait, hold on a tick." I put a hand to my chin, rubbing it in thought as the gears in my head began to turn. What if it wasn't simply because he was trespassing?

"Flowey?" I questioned softly, not receiving any response in return, "It wasn't just because Sans was trespassing, was it?" The way he stiffened up told me that I'd hit the jackpot. Looking to him in intrigue, I pressed on.

"Were you…w-were you trying to protect me?" I contemplated, both to myself and to him. Upon hearing this, I saw he was struggling to hold back a quip or a defense to his name, or maybe it was holding back any anger or resentment he had that I could insinuate such a thing.

"Flowey, were you trying to protect me from him?" The way he was acting now, the way that he acted down there, it was all starting to make some sense. Though, I had to wonder…was Flowey really that capable of emotion? From what I understood, his lack of a SOUL made it impossible for him to care, to love, to cherish in anything, as he replaced those empty feelings with reasonless killing and hate. But now, I was beginning to wonder if there was something still buried deep down in him from his time as Asriel, from his time with the 6 human SOULS plus the entire Underground.

"Flowey?" I asked again, this time I got a "better" response from him, as I saw him start to tremble, as though he was having difficulty holding something back. I started extending my hand to him, in the hopes that I could console him.

"Asriel?" Upon saying his actual name, Flowey whipped around, a frustrated expression plastered over the face of the child who was long dead.

"You're such an IDIOT!" he screamed in frustration, a vine snapping itself to my paw, causing me to reflexively stumble back, "I told you already that I don't need your pity! I told you that I can't and won't feel for you or any of them! Do you want me to say that I almost killed the Smiley Trashbag because I CARED about you?! That's not it, and it NEVER will be! The person you want me to be is DEAD! I'm Flowey, Flowey the Flower, and I will NEVER feel ANYTHING for ANYONE!" Flowey's tantrum shocked me. Despite his vehement denial at the idea that he even cared to protect me in the first place, the fact that there were tears going down his face as he yelled at me only confirmed that there was something going on with him that I didn't know myself. The way that he didn't even notice them, and seemed more frustrated than anything told me that there was some part of Asriel still buried deep down in the spite and hatred that Flowey had coursing through his roots. It was strange to say, but perhaps my attempts to SAVE Asriel in the past had finally started to yield something.

"Asriel," I tried to console, placing a hand on the back of his head after he had turned away again. However, in response, the plant only used one of his vines to push my paw away, yet it was in a restrained manner now, as though he didn't want to hurt me by doing so. The Flowey I knew wouldn't have hesitated to snap a vine at me, just like he did only a few moments ago. Now I knew that Asriel was there…

"It's fine," he mumbled in reply, not even giving me a chance to apologize, "Let's just move onto something else." Knowing that the subject was something to put a pin in for now, I sighed in defeat.

"Okay…okay." — I pulled myself away from him slightly to give him more room — "Well, I do have another question for you then." Flowey's attitude immediately went to spitefully mocking as soon as I went there.

"Oh, PLEASE, ask me MORE about my issues, instead of talking about yours! No. it's MY turn now." I sat quietly in response, not wanting to disrupt Flowey's tantrum.

"You're so unbearably nice at times Frisk. It's almost sickening. You remember that I told you that there are a lot of Floweys out there, right?"

"Yeah, but —" Flowey interrupted me, silencing me as he continued speaking.

"Well, here's a question for you. Did you ever meet any of those other Floweys out there? The bad people that'll do bad because they can? Did you give THEM the benefit of the doubt and try to make friends with them?" I thought for a moment on the past, but it was all such a blur that I couldn't possibly remember.

"Honestly…not that I can recall. I barely recall anything from the Surface, you know that." Flowey rolled his eyes in annoyance

"Do you recall ANYTHING about the Surface? About your time on the Surface with them?" I shrugged in response to Flowey's question, having thought about it many times over the course of this Timeline.

"Sometimes…I remember bits and pieces, but not the whole picture. I remember in some Timelines, I stayed with Mom…but I don't remember what I did. I remember another where I stayed with Sans and Papyrus. I remember one where I was on Mettaton's shows every night…but…I just can't remember the specifics of it." Flowey was now less annoyed, and more intrigued by it now.

"Really? You don't remember…anything? I'd have assumed you would," he commented, his tone less teasing, and more…sympathetic. It was odd, but it almost looked like Flowey was trying to put himself in my shoes…almost. I suppose it was something that we'd been working on: trying to be nicer to one-another.

"After hundreds of RESETS, you start to lose track," I bluntly replied, my tone , "I think that, after all the time I've spent doing this, I forgot why I fell in love with this place at first: because of the friends I made…because of the family I found." A few moments of silence passed, my mind going back through the past and trying to sort it. It was true…I did forget what made me love this all so much, and in my curiosity, bad things happened.

"It's just…sad to think that my curiosity got the better of my good nature," I mumbled to myself now, almost forgetting Flowey existed, until he asked the one question I didn't think that he'd ever ask me.

"When are you leaving?" he bluntly and suddenly asked, overpowering the thoughts that had taken over my mind and bringing me back into the present.

"W-wait, w-w-what?!" I asked in confusion, turning to him to see that his face was neutral, blank, no sense of emotion tied to it.

"When are you leaving?" he asked again, his tone still neutral, "The way you're talking about the past, and the way you looked at it. It makes me think that you're thinking on leaving or have already made up your mind on leaving." Now I was shocked. The way that he bluntly, unemotionally asked me was more akin to what Flowey would normally do, but…colder. It was disconcerting to hear him talk like this, without care to me anymore, now focused on the thought that haunted my mind for over a month now.

"Flowey, c-c'mon, you know I'm not going to leave," I tried to plead, only for him to shake his head.

"I'm not an idiot Frisk. You think I don't know that you and the Smiley Trashbag talked about tonight?"

"I already told him, I'm not leaving Flowey. And I told you and Mom that too." As soon as I said this, Flowey's face carved open, and he gave a small giggle.

"So you DID talk about it with him. Hee hee hee…I was just spitballing there, but YOU actually talked with him about leaving the Ruins!" Flowey began to laugh again, and it was no longer just a teasing, mocking laugh, but a cold, callous one that made my APPREHENSION start to return. "Oh, this is RICH! Smiley Trashbag wants you to leave, and deep down I know that you want to." Now I had to put my foot down. He was making one-too-many accusations for my liking, and DETERMINATION flooded my voice as I spoke.

"Now hold up, I ne —" Flowey interrupted me before I could continue, my APPREHENSION returning en-masse and making me just want to walk away.

"Oh, don't give me the 'sparing everyone' shtick. I know that you like to be the hero that everyone likes. I know that you want to leave to help everyone leave again, but you haven't for 'their sakes'. I think you're just GUILTY of what you did," he chided,

"Doesn't take a detective to figure that out," I mumbled to myself, knowing full well I was staying behind mainly because of guilt more than anything else. My DETERMINATION wanted me to speak up, but my APPREHENSION kept me quiet as Flowey continued on.

"You know, it'd break her heart to see that you've left her again, especially now that she KNOWS what you've done. And what about your promise to the Smiely Trashbag? I'm sure he'd LOVE to see you again." he snidely remarked, "Oh well, do what you will Frisk…you know I don't care either way. I'll be waiting for whatever it is you do." He then ducked beneath the ground, laughing as I attempted to dig him out and grab him by the stem. By the time my paw had started tearing up the flowerbed, he was long-gone, and I was not having any of it. Looking around, I groaned loudly to myself and stood to my feet, sighing in defeat. Flowey was right…as much as I hated to admit it, I still wanted to help them, and as much as I said I was fine staying here, deep down I wanted to go out and befriend them all again. Hearing what Flowey had said, it started to bring back memories of good times with the friends and family I'd made down here. Ideas of what may have happened on the Surface were somewhat clearer, but still muddied and blurred.

"Why can't I just get over it?!" I thought to myself, my internal tone stressed and grumpy. Knowing that a good night's sleep would do me some good, I started heading back to the house, quietly opening the door and putting my coat back on the rack. As I was closing the door, I noticed out of the corner of my eye something glitching outside, like in the mirror. Opening it slightly, I could see it was a human child, wearing a green and yellow-striped sweater, with a wide, cheery smile as they looked on at me in wonder. I immediately knew that this must've been Chara, the first human to fall into the Underground so long ago, and the first one to die down here. I turned away, looking down the hall, half-expecting to see the figure from the glitching mirror staring at me as well. Turning back, I saw that the glitching human was gone.

"Oh come on," I quietly groaned to myself as I shut the door. After shutting it, I turned to the right and went to my bedroom, flopping myself back on the bed in the hopes that I could get some sleep.

"You think you are in control, don't you? You will leave again. It is only a matter of time." I sat up for a moment, knowing that it had to be the figure I saw, but there was no one there. It was another of the voices that spoke to me when I was on the verge of slumber…strangely, that was the last voice I heard that night, but it was not a good night's sleep like I hoped. Instead of a SAVE created through my DETERMINATION, I was filled with APPREHENSION.

* * *

As soon as I opened the door, I sighed seeing the darkness inside. I'd left the lights on in my hurry to evade Papyrus earlier, but now I knew that I was right to dread coming back. The lights were out, and Pap hadn't been turning Snowdin into a dust pile in his search for me. I'd assumed Undyne convinced him to wait back home for me. Stepping inside, I looked around for a moment, flicking on the lightswitch, only to be greeted by black and white, instead of color. That only meant one thing.

"oh fu —"

"NNNNNGGGGGGAAAAAAHHHHH!" I dodged the attack just in time to see Undyne land face-first on the floor before standing back up, her frustration clear on her face.

"THERE YOU ARE! WE'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU ALL NIGHT!"

"lemme shed a 'searchlight' on your predicament then. i was somewhere doin' some —" As soon as I started on that tangent, she threw the couch at me I teleported when the couch looked like it was going to hit me and started walking up the stairs towards my room as Undyne looked on in confusion as the couch shattered against the wall.

"that was my favorite couch undyne."

"SANS! GET BACK DOWN HERE NOW!" she barked. I merely shrugged and began walking to my room,

"look, just tell pap that i went to grillby's," I tried to say, only for her to jump in the way of my room before charging me. Instead of simply waiting for her to do anything, I put up a wall of bones in her path, resulting in her taking a moment to stop, landing on her behind as she struggled to stop charging me.

"undyne, don't take it personally. i ain't in the mood for a chase across snowdin. i'm tired and need sleep," I told her, encasing her in a cage of blue bones as I started towards my room. Opening the door, I just about fell over at Papyrus just standing behind the door. Looking at him, his expression was callous and frustrated, but his eyes were filled with hurt and confusion. Before I had the chance to run, Papyrus extended an arm out and kept me pinned to my spot, my SOUL turning a lovely shade of blue. Looking to Papyrus, I tried to give my best smile and waved to him.

"hey pap. you missed me that much?" I started, resulting in Pap's expression to deepen. He was clearly not impressed, and wasn't saying anything to express his disappointment in me.

"c'mon bro. i didn't mean to scare ya 'to the bone'," I tried to joke, winking as I did. He still didn't say anything in response, and I was now starting to get concerned myself. Was I really worrying him this much?

"pap? c'mon now. you aren't usually this 'sternum'," I chuckled nervously, looking away from his glare. Papyrus didn't even twitch in response to the joke. Now I knew that I'd done something really wrong, and as much as I wanted to think otherwise, I knew exactly what it was that was bothering me. Before I had a chance to say anything else to him, he lifted me off the ground by my SOUL, and started walking down the hall to his room, with me floating closely behind. Now I was starting to get a little freaked out by Papyrus' lack of response. He was usually so vocal, so in your face about everything, but now he was aloof to even my jokes.

"alright pap, you can stop kiddin' around now," I stated with as much authority as I could muster. Pap only briefly turned to me before opening the door of his room, chucking me in, and shutting it on me, not saying a word or making a sound aside from a small grumble. Outside, I heard Undyne yelling about me

"Papyrus! You know I can absolutely get him to talk! If you think it's too difficult, fuhuhuhuh, you clearly don't know me!"

"THIS IS BETWEEN MY BROTHER AND I UNDYNE. GO ON PATROL OR DO SOMETHING ELSE, BUT RIGHT NOW, I NEED TO HAVE A WORD WITH HIM…ALONE…" The way that he talked was SOUL-crushing to me. It was with such calm and DETERMINED manner that I almost thought that he was an entirely different person. If it weren't for the hurt and confusion I saw in his eyes earlier, I would've assumed that someone had actually killed Papy and had disguised himself somehow…that was a far stretch if I'd ever heard one.

"Look man, your dork of a brother isn't gonna crack. I could do it in a few minutes," Undyne pleaded to him.

"UNDYNE, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I NEED TO CONFRONT MYSELF. I KNOW YOU WISH TO HELP, AND AS MUCH AS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, APPRECIATE THE EFFORT IN HIS CAPTURE, I NEED TO TALK WITH HIM, WITHOUT THE THREAT OF VIOLENCE." Silence followed for a few moments before I heard heavy footsteps going down the stairs. Another pair of footsteps stopped by the door, and I took a seat next to his racecar bed. Upon opening the door, I could tell that Pap was having a difficult time holding it together. I only gave a smile and waved to him, trying to make smalltalk in the process.

"hey bro…so, uh, i guess i —" Papyrus interrupted me with a single "Nyeh", holding up his hand to silence me as he did. I immediately thought it best to keep quiet and let him have the first words. He took a few steps towards me before taking a seat on his bed, clearly exhausted by today's events. An eerie quiet filled the room as Pap just looked at me, hurt and confusion now replacing his frustrated expression as he mulled over what'd been happening for the past month.

"BROTHER, WHY DO YOU LIE TO ME?" he interrogated, his tone somewhere between that frustration I saw and despondence.

"what do you mean?"

"'JUST TELL PAP THAT I WENT TO GRILLBY'S'…THAT IS WHAT YOU SAID. THE GREAT PAPYRUS CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD STOOP SO LOW AS TO LIE TO HIS FACE. YOU WEREN'T THERE SANS…"

"bro, c'mon. i just had some stuff to do today. don't get up in my 'grillby'," I joked, giving a chuckle afterwards, hoping I could at least make him smile somewhat. He may have hated the jokes, but they always did make him smile. He only shook his head in disappointment before continuing.

"SANS, YOU KNOW THAT I WORRY ABOUT YOU. I DO NOT THINK THAT IT IS AN APPROPRIATE TIME FOR JESTS AT MY EXPENSE," he responded, causing me to become puzzled.

"pap, if this is about today, then i'm gonna make this as clear as i can. i was out doin' something for a friend. you didn't need to worry. i'm fine."

"BUT THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME YOU HAVE SIMPLY VANISHED SANS!" I shut up almost immediately as Papyrus' outburst started to turn into outrage that I was so calm about the issue, "YOU VANISH FOR HOURS AT A TIME, NEVER AT YOUR USUAL SPOTS OR POSTS, AND I GET WORRIED SICK THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HURT BY SOMETHING OR SOMEONE!"

"pap, i told you, i'm —"

"NO!" he interrupted loudly, "YOU DON'T GET IT BROTHER! I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICES YOUR STRANGE BEHAVIOR! FOR A MONTH, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TALKING!" — Papyrus then looked down as he listed off people who noticed.

"GRILLBY SEES IT, AND KNOWS SOMETHING I DO NOT! ASGORE KNOWS ABOUT IT, DOGGO KNOWS, EVERYONE KNOWS IT SANS! EVERYONE EITHER SEES YOU ACTING STRANGELY OR KNOW SOMETHING IS UP WITH YOU, AND YOU WON'T TELL ME! YOU NEVER TELL ME ANYTHING!" Papyrus stood from his bed at the last statement, looking to me with hurt clear across his face, and his hands clenched into fists.

"pap, plea —" I tried to plead for him to stop, only to get interrupted by Papyrus' rant again.

"AND WHEN YOU TRY AND SHRUG IT OFF AND SAY IT'S FINE, I SEE IT TOO…THIS IS…THIS IS HARD FOR ME TO WATCH! SANS, YOU NEED TO TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON, RIGHT NOW! THE GREAT PAPYRUS CANNOT STAND IDLE WHEN YOU ARE SUFFERING IN SILENCE!" Now I was standing up from my chair as well, frustrated about this ordeal as much as he was.

"pappy, this, uh, isn't something that i can just tell you," I said with great restraint in my voice.

"OH PLEASE SANS! YOU COULD TELL ME ANYTHING, AND I WOULD NOT HESITATE TO HELP IN ANY WAY I COULD!" he shouted, stamping his foot on the ground as he did so.

"no, you really couldn't," I tried again, only resulting in Papyrus' frustration growing along with mine.

"THEN TELL ME WHY YOU CANNOT TELL ME! AT LEAST YOU CAN DO THAT! DON'T LEAVE THE ME TO GRASP AT STRAWS BROTHER!" He wouldn't understand…he couldn't understand. I just couldn't tell him.

"i can't do that either bro," I stated matter-of-factly, my tone starting to rise.

"WHY?!" he desperately begged, "PLEASE SANS! DO NOT LEAVE ME TO WORRY EVEN FURTHER! TELL ME WHAT IS UPSETTING YOU, AND WE CAN FIX IT!"

"that's —"

"SANS, NO MORE LIES! I NEED TO KNOW!"

"pap, i —"

"SANS!" I'd had enough. As I struggled to retain a cool and collected thought process, Papyrus kept on interrupting. He didn't get the bigger picture like I did, and as much as I wanted to spill the beans, I couldn't muster up the excuse to do so.

"that's the messed up thing papyrus! i can't tell you 'cause i'm trying to keep you safe!" I now shouted, causing my brother to step back, his frustration turning to fear as he saw my eye flash. "i can't tell you because it'd hurt you too much! you have no idea the measures i go to keep you safe, to keep you happy! i've worked to the 'bone' to keep you from getting your hands into somethin' you don't understand! don't you get it?! i'd tell you, but it'd end only with you getting yourself hurt or worse, and i'd be the one to blame!" All my frustration at not being able to tell him came out in that one rant, that one instance. I'd dare say that, for once, the Great Papyrus looked scared.

"there are things out there" — I pointed out towards the door with great emphasis on it being outside the house — "out 'there' that I keep you safe from on a constant basis! you say i'm a-a lazy sack of bones, that i don't do my part as a sentry, that i-i-i keep secrets from you to suffer in silence! well, here's the 'knee'-kicker" — I then pointed to my knee, my smile growing a bit as I rambled on in my hysterics — "EVERYTHING i've done is a front! a lie! i care about your wellbeing so much that i work for asgore as a judge! i care so much that i have 5 different spots i gotta be at, and even if it looks like i'm sleepin', i'm STILL keepin' an 'eyesocket' out for you! the least you could do is not question what i do to keep you safe, and let me deal with it on my OWN!" I'd never gotten so heated up before over anything, except with Toriel…and even then, I wasn't as heated as I was now. All the stress of keeping this big secret from Paps…it was beginning to tear me apart, and I think he now knew that. As I stood there, panting in exhaustion, Pap's face of fear turned to one of hurt, and empathy for my issues.

"BUT DON'T YOU SEE?! YOUR ISSUES ARE MAKING OTHERS WORRY…THEY'RE MAKING ME WORRY," he quietly tried to appeal, extending his arms as though trying to wrap me in a hug, "PLEASE SANS…I'M SCARED FOR YOU…LET ME HELP…let me try to understand…" Now I was looking down, my sockets a blank void as I reiterated my point that I was trying to make in my rant.

"papyrus…bro…i can't. i just CAN'T," I bluntly testified, refusing to even acknowledge that he wanted to help. Papyrus looked down in defeat, his arms limply hanging by his sides and his expression blank and unable to communicate his own frustrations with me.

"WELL THEN…I SUPPOSE THIS IS IT. YOU WON'T TELL YOUR COOL BROTHER, WHO ONLY WANTS TO HELP, WHAT'S THE MATTER…AND NO ONE ELSE KNOWS FOR SURE. M-MAYBE THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO FOR YOU…" I sighed in guilt as I knew how much I'd made him worry…but I couldn't back down. Looking up, the light returned to my sockets, and, while I looked exceptionally tired now, I tried to give a sincere smile.

"bro, c'mon…you don't need to focus on that…" At saying this, Papyrus' head snapped up, looking at me with DETERMINATION glimmering in his sockets. His blank expression turned to a confident, never-give-up smile, and he looked at me with as much gusto as he could muster.

"NO! I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON YOU! YOU KNOW WHAT, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HELP YOU, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT WANT ME TO! I WILL FIND OUT WHAT TROUBLES YOU SO, AND LEARN TO UNDERSTAND IT! STARTING NOW!" Papyrus then abruptly turned, and walked into the door. However, instead of simply bumping into it, he kept walking on, DETERMINATION pushing him onwards until the door broke off the walls and onto the ground.

"pap, where are you going?"

"IF I CANNOT GET ANY INFORMATION OUT FROM YOU, I WILL FIND IT ELSEWHERE! THAT DOOR YOU LIKE TO TELL KNOCK-KNOCK JOKES TO SHALL SUFFICE AS A STARTING POINT! NYEH, HEH, HHHHHHEEEEEEHHHHHH!" My sockets widened in instant terror as I realized where he was going. I immediately took a shortcut to the front of the house, only for Papyrus to bust through it as well, shaking the dog off of his boot as he turned to start walking in the direction of the Ruins.

"pappy, no! please, for the love of god, i don't need your help!"

"I KNOW! YOU SAY YOU DO NOT, BUT I DO NOT CARE! YOUR SUFFERING SHALL BE MINE AS WELL, AND THEN, WE CAN TELL KING ASGORE, AND UNDYNE, AND EVERYONE ELSE SO THAT THEY WILL STOP WORRYING! NYEH?!" As soon as he started going on in his monologue, I set up a wall of bones to stop him, and, despite how strong he was, he smacked face-first into the wall that I'd set up. Looking to me, he saw that my sockets were blackened, and my smile somewhere else. Now, I had a blank expression that replaced my usually-perpetual grin.

"papyrus, i ain't gonna let you do this to yourself. this is my burden, not yours or anyone else's." I watched in amazement as Papyrus stepped back, and took a running start and jumped the wall, landing a short distance behind me, before taking off like a rocket, his "NYEH, HEH, HEHs" following him as he bolted. Instead of waiting, my eye flashed as I grabbed Pap's SOUL and turned it blue, keeping him pinned in place.

"pap…i don't wanna FIGHT you to knock some sense in that 'numbskull' head of yours, but i will if it means keeping you safe."

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE BROTHER! HOW DO YOU KEEP SOMEONE SAFE BY DOING A VIOLENCE?!" he protested. I only shrugged in response, but kept him pinned, my perpetual grin returned and my eye sockets dimmed. I didn't wanna hurt him, but I had to stay DETERMINED and keep to my promise. If Papyrus found out about what the kid had done, I'm not certain what would happen, but I don't think that it'd end well for either of them. I had to keep my promise.

"wanna help me find out bro?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Wow...just wow...honestly, this was probably the hardest chapter to write thus far. I started off knowing that I didn't want to immediately go into the main plotline just yet, but I found that I was having difficulty getting around it, and trying to do something less plot-decisive. So...I went back to certain characters and issues that should be explored a bit. I don't know how well I wrote it out, and, honestly, I'm not certain if this is gonna be a good chapter. I might rewrite it in the future, but at least I'm trucking along.

Honestly, the hardest of the hard for this chapter was the conversation between Flowey and Frisk. Flowey's a hard character to do for me because he's an apathetic, emotionless piece of trash...but with what's going on, I imagined that some of those old, dusty emotions are finally resurfacing. It's hard to switch back and forth between an emotionless husk of the child who died so long ago, and the child who's still buried deep down somewhere. That being said, it was also probably my favorite. As I notice, I tend to like the segments with Flowey and Frisk the most...it asks questions I sometimes ask myself, but who knows.

With Papyrus' and Sans' conflict, I thought that it could at least tie back into the overarching story, somewhat, and you'll get a cool battle out of it next chapter. Adding a dynamic of the skelebros' arguments getting more heated because of the fact that they both love each other too much to let the other be hurt (Papyrus too afraid of Sans getting himself hurt and not letting anyone know, and Sans too afraid of letting Papyrus getting too close to the truth). It's something a lot of us who have siblings face on a daily basis, and I think that it's something that isn't explored too terribly well. Someone as relaxed as Sans can even snap, and someone like Papyrus can even become so DETERMINED to help their brother out that they forgo their own safety...it happens...I should know...

Were it not for a crash of Microsoft Word and autorecovery not being a bitch to deal with, I could've probably had this chapter done on the weekly schedule that I designated...however, seeing how long I also procrastinated, it's hard to tell. Honestly, I'll probably do 1-2 week periods of posting as, while I do wanna continue this story, real life's getting in the way, and procrastination is a real problem...as well as other projects that we're up to. But, who knows. Just remember to stay DETERMINED everyone...I won't be gone for too long...and if I am, know that I've just got a nasty case of Writer's Block that pops up now and again.


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